The New Guardians
by PhantomPride15
Summary: W.I.T.C.H. has to deal with problems from the pass. New guardians are found, right as new foes show. Can the guardians handle it? Or will Kandrakar find out the hard way that they made a mistake?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note.** So, I decided to try and rewrite this story. In my opinion, this is a thousand times better than my first try. You can read that, but I wouldn't suggest it, considering it gives away a few things and I'm going at a different speed with this one. In this chapter, all the characters are just living their life. Nothing attacks, I'm just setting some ground work. It will get more interesting, I promise.

**The New Guardians: Remade**

******Chapter One**

**Everyday Life**

**Will**

Will smiled, closing her eyes. Her smile grew when she felt arms wrap around her in a loving embrace. She breathed in deeply, and smelt the ocean. No surprise there. "Hey." Will spoke softly.

"You know what I wanna do?" The voice said.

Will nodded. "Of course."

"Go flying."

Will laughed, getting up and grabbing one of the hands that just held her. "Sure."

**Teranee**

Teranee looked up from the microscope, stopping only to write something on her notebook. She sighed, shaking her head. She had done this a thousand times, only getting new results every time. She felt like she was being OCD, but she had to make sure she was doing the exact same thing every time. She needed to prove that it was the subject that was changing, not her. Shaking her head, she got up, to go to the computer. She had to start all over again.

**Cornelia**

"This area is clear." Cornelia said into her microphone. A camper had gone missing a few days ago, and as her job as a park ranger, she had to search for the camper.

"Okay, let's all meet back at the center." Rob said through the static. No such luck. The camper was gone. Cornelia sighed and turned around, following the path back to the main building, or as Rob had called it, the center.

**Hay Lin**

Hay Lin sat down; happy the lunch rush was over. She had inherited the family's restaurant, and it was still working just as well. She pushed her hair out of her face and looked up at the smiling face of one of her workers standing over her. "Hey boss, you sure you want to close up early?" Collin said. He had been her assistant for quite a while, and the business was running well because of it.

"Yeah." Hay Lin said, getting up. "We all need a break. Besides, I'm meeting up with my friends later, and I can't always have you stealing my job."

"Darn, you caught on to me." Collin said, picking up his bag. "See ya."

"Bye!" Hay Lin said, waving.

**Hannah and Austin**

Hannah sat, furiously typing on her computer. She brushed her brown hair out of her lightning blue eyes and paused, reading over the paragraph she just wrote. When she was half way through reading it, her phone buzzed, causing her to jump. It was a text from her friend, Madeline. Hannah ignored it, too wrapped up in her story writing at the moment to answer. She continued writing and jumped again when her twin brother said, "Well that was mean of you."

"Holy-!" Hannah practically yelled, turning around. She didn't hear the door open, nor did she hear Austin walk in.

"Hi to you too." Austin said, grinning. They were almost identical, except the fact that they weren't the same gender and had different haircuts, although their hair was almost alike.

"What do you want?" Hannah asked, smiling.

"Tyler and the gang want to play, but we need another player. You up for it?" Austin asked, pretty much challenging his little sister.

"You mean, am I in the mood to kick your butt? Of course I am. I'll be out there in a few minutes." Hannah replied, turning to save her story on her computer.

"Hurry!" Austin yelled, running out of the room.

Hannah closed the laptop, getting up and looking around the room. Four bunk-beds, three dressers and one closet, complete with a desk and a TV. Anyone else would call it crowded, but to the kids in the foster house, it was just fine. Hannah shared the closest with her roommates, but she didn't mind. It was okay. She opened the closet door, stepped into her shoes and ran outside.

**Brianna**

Brianna set the last box down on top of the others right as her mom walked into the room. "You'll like this new town, don't worry. School starts tomorrow, so make sure you unpack what you need."

"Yes ma'am, I will." Brianna said, lying down on her bed. Her bright blond hair splattered messily over her pillow. When she noticed her mom still standing there, she said, "Bye mom."

"Fine, fine. Bye." Her mom left, closing the door. Brianna closed her eyes, falling asleep a lot faster than she had planned.

**Payden**

Payden paced around her room. She had had the weirdest dream last night. It was her friends, and some unknown girl, fighting some really hot guy. But they were using superpowers. No, she couldn't talk to them about this, they would call her crazy. Payden brushed her dark brown out of her brown eyes and looked out the only window in her messy room.

**Autumn**

Autumn whipped her eyes, looking up from her mythology book. She had been reading so much that her eyes where dry now. No wonder her friends called her a nerd. Not that you would think she was a nerd at first sight. No braces, no glasses, she looked perfectly normal. Normal. Yeah, that explained her, Autumn thought, dancing a flame across her fingertips. "I'm crazy." Autumn said to herself.

**Madeline**

Madeline looked up at the sky, smiling. The day was perfect. She was sitting on her roof, just day dreaming. She was getting so many new ideas by just sitting up here. The air circled around her, making her laugh. She couldn't wait for school tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Author's note<span>** Sorry if that was short. Please review. I love hearing other's thoughts and if you don't point out any mistakes I make, then I'll keep on making them. I'll try my best to upload the next chapter as fast as I can. See you next time!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** Gay couples are lurking in this story. Please don't bash them.

**The New Guardians  
><strong>

**Chapter Two**

**The First of Changes**

_Will's house – W.I.T.C.H.'s headquarters _

Taranee put the key in the lock and opened the front door, turning on the light. Will and Irma were supposed to be here by now, were probably but knowing them they out wasting time. Taranee pushed her long dark hair out of her face and went to get a drink, closing the front door but leaving it unlocked. Once she had sat down with her water, Hay Lin walked in and gave her a hug. "Hey!" Hay Lin said enthusiastically.

"Hello to you too." Taranee smiled, patting Hay Lin's arm and turning around in her chair. Suddenly, Irma flew down the stairs, laughing. She actually flew down the stairs though. Will was right behind her and tackled her to the ground. "Cut it out, love birds." Taranee joked.

Will kissed Irma lightly and turned them back to their regular forms at the same time. "Why would we do that?" Will replied, not looking up at Taranee. "That's no fun."

"I agree." Irma said from under Will, smiling.

That's when the front door opened and Cornelia walked in. "Control yourselves you two." She joked, closing the door. Cornelia was wearing a simple green shirt with khakis. Her blond hair was still just as long, but now it was tied into a ponytail. In fact, looking around, she noticed that her friends hadn't really changed at all. Hay Lin still looked the same, except a little taller. Irma had grown her hair out a little, but not much. Will kept her hair better, but it was the same style. She had grown though, but was still the smallest in the group. With Taranee, the only difference about her was that her hair had grown out. Other than that, their styles had grown up a little, but still showed them and their elements in them.

"Shut up Corny." Irma said. She then flipped Will over, causing everyone to laugh. She kissed Will's forehead and got up. "We should behave ourselves for a few minutes. We do have company." Will grinned and got up, pulling Irma back down simultaneously. She stuck her tongue out at her wife, then sat by Taranee. "Meanie." Irma muttered, giggling.

"So boss, what's the plan?" Hay Lin asked, turning to Will.

Will shrugged. "I don't really know. What do you guys want to do?"

"We haven't talked to Elyon in a while." Cornelia said.

"True." Taranee agreed, everyone nodding along with her.

"So, Meridian?" Will asked, pulling out the Heart.

* * *

><p><em><span>Sheffield Institute<span>_

Autumn and Madeline got off of their bus, laughing and looking at each other's schedule. Autumn was wearing a plain red short sleeved shirt and blue jeans. Madeline was wearing a white laced shirt and a long blue skirt. Both of them had their hair up, except Madeline's was in a bun. "Hey, we have homeroom, history second block, art and lunch together." Autumn pointed out.

"Yay!" Madeline cheered, hugging her friend. Suddenly, Payden came up behind them and snatched their schedules out of their grip. "Hey!" Madeline and Autumn said at the same time.

"Is for horses." Payden said smiling, not looking up from the schedules. Payden's hair was down, almost covering her face as she was looking down. She was wearing a brown shirt with a flowery design on it, and blue jeans. "Maddie, we have art fourth block and lunch. Autumn, we have art, lunch, Human Anatomy and English."

"Cool." Autumn smiled.

While the three started talking, Brianna got out of her mom's car. Brianna waved off her mom wishing to have a good day and stared at her schedule. "I'm so lost." She said to herself. Her blond hair was simply down. She had on a blue shirt with rips in the sleeves and blue jeans. "How the crap am I supposed to find any of these classes?" She leaned against one of the school's walls and her attention was suddenly captured by two motorcycles speeding into the parking lot.

Hannah came to a stop, turned off her motorcycle and took her helmet off. She shook her hair back into place and turned to her brother, laughing. "I beat you."

"You cut me off!" Austin said, doing the same as she had. Their bags were already on their backs, so they just had to get off of their bikes. Hannah was dressed simple, with a black t-shirt and black jeans. Austin wore a blue shirt with black jeans.

"Hi!" Madeline yelled, almost tackling Hannah to the ground in a hug.

"Hey! No killing the small one!" Autumn joked, right behind Madeline. She was right though. Autumn and Madeline were 5'5, Payden was 5'6 and Hannah was 4'10, therefore making her the small one. Even her twin towered over her. Everyone laughed along, and Payden handed Hannah their schedules as she said hello.

"Hmmm…." Hannah hummed, looking over the list. "Mythology first!" Hannah and Autumn high fived. "Math with Payden second, art and lunch with you three, and English with Payden and Autumn. Cool!" Hannah smiled.

Brianna was watching them, for some reason mesmerized by them. She didn't have a chance to watch them for too long, because then the principal announced that it was time for everyone to report to homeroom.

* * *

><p><em><span>Will and Irma's house<span>_

"Guardians Unite!" Will said. The Heart flashed, then Will fell, clutching her head. Irma and Hay Lin bent down next to her.

"You okay Will?" Hay Lin asked.

"Y-yeah… Just a little weak." Will replied, leaning back but not getting up.

"That was odd…" Taranee said, looking down at the Heart.

"Yeah. Why aren't we transformed?" Cornelia asked.

"I-I don't know." Will said, picking up the Heart. It suddenly glowed and a fold opened up behind Cornelia.

"I guess that's how we get the answer." Irma said, helping Will get to her feet.

* * *

><p><em><span>Sheffield Institute, fourth period. Art room<span>_

Hannah leaned in her chair, looking up as her friends walked into the room together. "Hey guys." She greeted them as they all sat at the same table as her. "How's school been?"

"Ugh. My history teacher sucks." Payden said. "She doesn't shut up…"

Right then, Brianna walked into the room. Hannah looked up, and was instantly distracted. _She looks so sad… Why is she sad? God… She is beautiful… _Hannah thought.

"Hannah… Hannah…" Autumn was trying to get her friends attention. "We lost her."

"Hannah!" Payden almost yelled, making Hannah jump.

"What. What?" Hannah said, then blinking and realizing what had happened. "I'm sorry…"

"What were you staring at?" Payden asked.

"That girl over there." Hannah nodded to Brianna.

"Hey! She's in our history class!" Madeline said, waving Brianna over to their table.

Brianna smiled timidly and sat down with the group. "I'm Brianna."

"That's Hannah and Payden." Autumn said, pointing to her friends. "Welcome to the group."

* * *

><p><em><span>Kandrakar<span>_

"I apologize, Guardians." The Oracle said as W.I.T.C.H. walked in.

"What happened?" Taranee asked, with a worried look on her face.

"The Oracle and the Heart has chosen new guardians..." Halinor explained.

"What?" Cornelia exclaimed. "Why?"

"Now, now. Calm down." Halinor said calmly. "You knew this would happen. It happened to the past guardians at your age."

"We're only 34!" Irma said. "Well, Cornelia is 35, but still! We aren't old, I'm not dead,-"

"And I'm not evil." Will cut Irma off.

"I am sorry, but it is time for you to step down and for new guardians to take charge." The Oracle said. "And I would appreciate you helping me teach them."

"Why would we do that?" Irma asked, still mad.

"Because we would've wanted it." Hay Lin spoke for the first time since stepping through the fold. That did calm Irma and Cornelia down.

"Fine…" Will said, after looking at her friends. "I'll miss being a guardian… But we will help the new ones." She handed the Oracle the Heart.

"No, no. Keep it for now." The Oracle put his hands up, refusing to take it. "It is usually costmary for the past Keeper of the Heart to give the new Keeper the Heart."

* * *

><p><em><span>Sheffield Institute. Art room<span>_

After taking roll, the art teacher said that they could talk amongst themselves for the period, considering that she needed to get the room organized. So the group just talked and got to know it's newest member throughout the period.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you." Autumn said to Hannah. "Did you just have to make that entrance earlier?"

"I didn't mean to." Hannah laughed. "We were just racing. I pulled in too fast, and that's why it was so loud."

"Suuure." Madeline joked.

"Hey, how can you drive? You're only fifteen right?" Brianna asked.

"Yeah." Hannah smiled. "I have a license though. I live in the local foster home, so I could get mine early."

"I want to say cool but…" Brianna said, confused.

"Ha ha, don't worry. It's fine." Hannah replied, right as the bell rang. "Hey Bri, we were going to walk outside for lunch, want to come with us?"

"We can do that?" Brianna asked, walking with them to the doors that led outside.

"Yeah, we just can't be late to our next class." Payden explained.

"Sure why not." Brianna said, smiling.

"Yay!" Madeline said, running in front of them.

"Get back here!" Hannah laughed and chased after her.

"Dorks!" Payden yelled at them. They were on their own path now, all alone. After a few more minutes, Hannah and Madeline joined back up with them and they just talked and walked.

"What the-?" Hannah asked, blocking her eyes and cutting Payden off.

"What's that?" Autumn asked, all of them now looking at the bright blue circle that was blocking the path. Madeline took a step forward and Payden reached out and grabbed her arm.

"What in the world are you doing?" Payden looked at Madeline like she was insane.

"Checking it out. We should." Madeline replied, tugging on her arm.

"Yeah… I think we should." Hannah said, walking forward. She stuck her arm in the fold and turned back to her friends. "It doesn't hurt…"

Autumn walked up to Hannah. "Let's go then."

"You guys are crazy." Payden muttered, shaking her head.

Hannah laughed and jumped through the fold. Brianna laughed also and said, "Why not?" Jumping in after her.

"Well?" Payden asked, looking at Autumn and Madeline.

"I'm making sure you follow us." Autumn said. Madeline giggled and jumped through the fold.

"I'm not going in there before you…" Payden said.

"Oh aren't you?" Before she knew it, Payden was being pushed into the fold by Autumn.

* * *

><p><em><span>Kandrakar<span>_

Hannah looked around, and she could tell her friends were following her by the gasps that they each made. "Whoa…" Payden said once her and Autumn had landed and gotten up. The room they were in was big, white and blue. It had wide window sills and no roof. They had never seen anything like it.

Autumn's eyes fell upon the man and two women standing in front of them. "Where are we and who are you?"

"I am the Oracle. This is Will and Halinor. This place is called Kandrakar, and you. You are all the new Guardians. Welcome."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Author's note:<span>**

Well, here it is. I am sorry if it is rushed, choppy or another mistakes I made.

Please, please review! It means so much to me! I only want to make myself a better writer and I want to know what my readers think of this.

Until next time,

Phantom


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note:** Wow, can you say late? I'm sorry guys. I just lost some inspiration and so I haven't written. I hope you enjoy and I shall talk more at the end of this chapter...

* * *

><p><strong>The New Guardians<strong>

**Chapter Three**

**Explanations**

_Kandrakar_

Hannah looked around, and she could tell her friends were following her by the gasps that they each made. "Whoa…" Payden said once her and Autumn had landed and gotten up. The room they were in was big, white and blue. It had wide window sills and no roof. They had never seen anything like it.

Autumn's eyes fell upon the man and two women standing in front of them. "Where are we and who are you?"

"I am the Oracle. This is Will and Halinor. This place is called Kandrakar, and you. You are all the new Guardians. Welcome." The bald man spoke calmly and peacefully to them.

"This is a joke" Payden looked scared. She didn't want this to be true. Why would she?

"Wait." Hannah said, looking over her shoulder at Payden. "Let's at least let them explain." She turned back to the Oracle, Will, and Halinor. "Guardians? Kandrakar? Please explain." She did look at the Oracle while saying this, but she kept looking at Will. Will looked too familiar. Hannah knew she recognized her from somewhere, but she couldn't tell where. And Hannah could tell Will recognized her too. When she first saw her, Will's back straightened. Will glared at the Oracle for a second, but she soon hid her anger and surprise.

"There are more worlds than just the one you live on." The Oracle begun to explain. "Kandrakar watches over all of the worlds, but we just watch. When problems and evil arises, the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions take care of it. There has been multiple generations of Guardians. Will led the Guardians until this morning, and Halinor was a guardian before Will. Every Guardian has control of an element."

"But there are five of us…" Brianna pointed out.

"There are more than the four elements that you follow." Halinor said, smiling.

"I thought they were myths." Autumn thought out loud.

"Hey." Hannah smiled, looking at Autumn. "We learned today that every myth is based on some fact."

"That is very true." The Oracle said. "Will was the Keeper of Heart, and therefore the leader and had control over the element quintessence."

"Quin-what now?" Brianna was confused.

"Quintessence. Energy or lightning. It's also called light." Autumn explained. "I'm just guessing… Am I fire?"

"Maybe." Halinor replied. "To find out for sure we would need to see you in guardian form."

"I hope I'm air." Madeline smiled.

"I bet I'm water." Brianna said.

"Uh… Earth. I guess I'm earth." Payden spoke unsurely.

All of her friends looked at Hannah. "What? I don't think I'm anything… This must be a mistake." She said, spinning to see Will walking closer to her.

"You are the new Keeper of the Heart. You are the leader. You have power over light. Considering there are many responsibilities with this, you must accept it." Will said. Hannah felt compelled to kneel, which she did. "Hannah Lair, do you accept your role as the new Keeper of the Heart?"

"Y-yes. I accept." Hannah said, momentarily shocked that this stranger-or maybe not a stranger-knew her last name.

Will dropped the necklace with the Heart on it onto Hannah's neck and announced. "The new Keeper of the Heart, may you lead the guardians well."

Payden, Autumn, Brianna and Madeline looked at each other after seeing this. They were stunned. One second, they were just talking. Then Hannah was suddenly in what looked like to be a ceremony. Hannah stood. "So… What now?"

"Hold up the Heart and say Guardians Unite." Halinor said with a grin.

* * *

><p><em><span>Another room in Kandrakar, at the same time the fold opened minutes earlier.<span>_

Irma rocked on her heels, impatient. Cornelia was sitting next to Hay Lin and Taranee was leaning against a wall. Will was off talking to the Oracle and Halinor. Suddenly, they heard a fold open. "That's them!" Hay Lin bounced up, excited to meet the new guardians. They all started walking towards the door when suddenly Will spoke to them in their minds, using the little powers they still had. _'No! Don't come in here!'_

This caused them to jump, and they looked around at each other. _'What's wrong honey?' _Irma thought back to Will.

_'It's better if you stay in there until I tell you…' _All of them could tell Will was angry and surprised.

_'What's happening Will?' _Cornelia asked.

_'… Hannah is here.' _Upon hearing this, the group gasped in shock, and turned to Irma, who was practically frozen.

* * *

><p>"Guardians Unite!" Hannah said, turning to her friends and holding up the Heart.<p>

"Light!" Hannah said, being incased in a pink ball.

"Water!" Brianna was in a blue ball, seeming more tough and grinning.

"Fire!" Autumn was in a red ball. She looked around, happy she wasn't crazy.

"Air!" Madeline laughed, now in a bright blue ball.

"Earth!" Payden said with a small smile, now in a green ball.

Once their transformation they all looked at their new bodies. "Dude! I'm tall!" Hannah cheered. She was right, they were all now 5'7. Hannah looked at her clothes, amazed. Now, Hannah was wearing a blue/green unbuttoned long sleeve shirt with a white under shirt. She had purple jeans with cuts at the knees where the blue and green striped leggings showed through. She had white tennis shoes on.

"About time." Autumn joked. She loved her outfit. Autumn was wearing a blue/green top that had sleeves that almost touched her elbow. Where those sleeves cut off, black ones continued. Her pants were purple cargo pants with army boots. On the sides of her pants, there were cuts where the blue and green leggings showed.

Payden was silent in shock. She was wearing a purple short sleeved top with purple arm bands that went from her wrists to her elbows. She had on blue/green shorts that went down to her knees. Like the others, she had leggings. Payden also wore the same boots that Hay Lin used to have.

Brianna had a plain blue/green sleeveless shirt and black fingerless gloves on. She had on purple cargo shorts that went just past her knees. She had on black tennis shoes.

Madeline gasped, looking at her back. "We have wings!" She shot up in the air while giggling. Madeline was now wearing a sleeveless purple top with purple gloves and a blue/green skirt with a slit up the side to show the tights. She had on the same boots as Payden.

All of her friends looked behind them and discovered that she was right. They did have wings. But the wings looked different. Now, they were white with black outlines. Will touched one of Hannah's wings lightly. "Huh. That's new."

"Is that bad?" Hannah sounded worried.

"Nah." Will replied. "Just new." Will smiled at Hannah. Hannah smiled back slowly. She had recognized Will but she just couldn't place from where.

* * *

><p>"Maybe she won't recognize you…" Hay Lin said hopefully, wrapping an arm around Irma's shoulders.<p>

Irma shook off Hay Lin's embrace. "How could she not? She's an orphan. She's probably just barely holding on to the memory of me… I'm shocked she hasn't recognized Will yet! It's just a matter of time…"

"Irma, calm down…" Taranee spoke slowly.

"Why should she?" Cornelia turned to Taranee, almost yelling.

"Yeah!" Irma was actually agreeing with Cornelia, the world must be ending. "We got her away from this guardian business, and look where she is now! It was pointless!"

"Maybe not." Hay Lin said softly.

"Yeah. You protected Austin." Taranee agreed.

"And who's to say he won't get dragged into this too?" Cornelia asked.

"No one…" Taranee said to Cornelia. She turned to Irma. "I'm sorry that you tried to protect her and it didn't work. But right now, she has a chance to see you again. Are you going to give that up?"

Irma was taken back. "I…I shouldn't, should I?"

"No." Hay Lin hugged Irma again. "She probably wants to see you. I know I want to see her."

"I kind of want to see her too…" Irma said, hesitantly walking out of the room.

* * *

><p>Madeline lightly hit Payden on her head. "Hey!" Payden said, surprised, and looked up at her airhead of a friend.<p>

"Is for horses." Madeline quoted Payden and stuck her tongue at her while laughing. Madeline flew off, with Payden following her clumsily.

Brianna looked at the Oracle and saw he was talking to Halinor while they were watching the new guardians, so she walked over to Hannah, Autumn and Will.

"So now we're superheroes? Just like that?" Hannah was asking, a tad sarcastic. "No falling in sewage waste or getting bitten by spiders?"

"Why complain?" Brianna answered, laughing.

"Yeah, she has a good point." Autumn agreed with a smile. "So where's the big bad guys?" Autumn had her cocky smirk on.

Will laughed. "Wait a second, you have to learn how to use your powers."

"Ugh. More learning… I swear if I have homework…" Brianna mumbled, getting a smile from Hannah.

"Do we just stumble along then?" Hannah asked.

"Well… The past guardians, the ones I led, are around here…" Will said, trying to not finish her sentence. She didn't know how to explain why they hadn't met W.I.T.C.H. yet. But before she had a chance to say another word, Hannah and Brianna gasped, causing her to look up. _No. No! Why are they doing this? _She thought to herself, watching her friends walk in, Irma trailing behind them.

Hannah gasped because she was about to remember where she knew Will from, and as soon as she had, she looked up to meet Irma's eyes. Brianna had gasped because at the first sound of footsteps, she had looked up. She was surprised at seeing the group of new people but what surprised her the most was the last one entering looked so much like…

"Hannah?" Madeline sounded worried. Payden and she landed behind Hannah they both looked worried too. "What's wrong?"

The Oracle turned around to face everyone in the room, not oblivious to what was unfolding. "Irma, Will, I do apologize for this. Please know that."

"You should be sorry." Will said, glaring at the Oracle.

"Will someone tell us what's going on?" Autumn yelled, looking around at everyone. By then Irma had come to stand next to Will, and she was watching Hannah very carefully.

Hannah then broke out of whatever trance she was in, smiled, and ran to hug Irma. Irma hugged back hesitantly and nodded for Will to join the hug, which she did. "Isn't it obvious?" Brianna asked Autumn, but she was purposefully speaking loud enough for their friends to hear. "Hannah's found her mom… Or moms it looks like."

"I've missed you…" Irma kissed Hannah's forehead.

* * *

><p><em><span>In Meridian<span>_

Ash shook his black hair out of his eyes. He jumped off the tree branch and landed on the ground silently. "You know you should be more secretive whenever you take a victim." Valkyrie sighed, not wanting to turn around and meet his green glare. "Besides, I thought you didn't need blood."

"I need some energy." Valkyrie sighed. She had long, dark curly hair and almost black eyes.

"Well next time, get some from this world." Ash said. "We needn't be worrying the officials on Earth. Especially when one of them is a guardian."

"Past guardian. Get your facts right." Valkyrie replied.

"And who is telling you this? Your dead friend? Narika or whatever?" Ash's tone was dripping with sarcasm.

"You know that's not her name." Valkyrie was now pissed. She stood up and glared at Ash.

"What? Are you going to attack me?" Ash asked, still sarcastic. "Be civilized, little girl."

"Leave me alone." Valkyrie hissed, showing her fangs for a second. She opened a fold and left Ash alone.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> Oh by the way, I don't own W.I.T.C.H. Opps...

Anyways, I'm sorry for the horrible ending. It killed me, but I couldn't think of anything better. I'm also sorry for putting a portal in the last chapter, I know they aren't supposed to be used any more but it seemed to be a better fit. Annnnd another sorry for any mistakes I made. Please, feel free to correct me at any time. I need to get better and I realize that.

I'll try to upload ASAP. Sorry, I'm just really slow lately. Oh and I've been drinking more energy drinks. Which means I twitch and make more mistakes, so I have to fix those. Oh and it means I talk. A lot. Just saying.

See ya next time! Please review, I guess rate, but honestly, reviews mean more to me.

**Phantom**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note** Hey! Wow, you might be lucky ;) Two chapters in a few days? Lucky you! (I hope!)

I don't own W.I.T.C.H.

* * *

><p><strong><span>The New Guardians<span>  
><strong>

**Chapter Four**

**Lessons**

Autumn, Madeline, and Payden all were thinking the same thing. They couldn't believe that they didn't notice that Irma was Hannah's mom. They looked so alike. They also noticed that Will and Irma had matching rings on their left hands. _ That's kind of ironic, _Autumn thought with a smile.

"So wait… You two are together?" Brianna asked Will and Irma.

They pulled out of the hug and looked in between Hannah and Brianna. Then Irma answered Brianna with a smile. "Yeah we are."

"Cool." Brianna said. _Well… That is good…_ She thought.

"So what happened to you two?" Hannah asked, looking at Irma and Will. "Why did you…"

"We didn't want to…" Will said, frowning.

"We didn't want them to, too!" Hay Lin added.

"We had to. We wanted to protect you." Irma explained.

"That worked out well." Payden said dryly.

"Who exactly do you think you are?" Cornelia asked Payden, looking down on her, really hoping she wasn't-

"The new earth guardian, thank you very much." Payden answered proudly. A little too proudly. "And who do you think you are? Some washed up princess or maybe-"

"Your new teacher?" Cornelia cut in.

_Great a match made in heaven,_ Hannah thought. "Payden, cool it." She said at the same time Will had said, "Cornelia, calm down."

This got a laugh from the past and new fire, water, and air guardians. "So alike, and you aren't even blood related." Irma joked.

"I think that much is obvious…" Brianna said, slightly sarcastic. This got a few raised eye brows, which made her visibly shrink. "I'm not homophobic or anything… I've just never been with an open gay couple…"

"It's ok." Hay Lin smiled. "It can be odd at first. But you get used to it."

"How do you know you aren't homophobic, cause you kind of seem like you are?" Taranee asked.

"Well… I-I'm…" Brianna looked around hastily. She barely got enough courage to tell her old friends about this. Now this? She just met these people! How could she trust them? Well… If she had to trust anyone, it had to be these people… "I'm gay…"

"Well that explains you checking me out." Hannah joked lightly. _Well… This makes things a lot less complicated._

"Hey, who said she was checking you out?" Autumn laughed, breaking the ice. Madeline and Payden just shook their heads. "Anyways… We have some learning to do, right?"

Brianna groaned, although she was happy the conversation had changed. "Why would you say such a thing?"

"Wow." Irma smiled at Brianna. "Are you the water guardian? Cause I'm really liking you more and more."

"Hey, hey." Will elbowed Irma. "You're married. Don't forget that."

Hannah was laughing, happy to have met-or I guess be back with, even though she barely remembered them- her parents. "Yes Mom, Brianna is the water guardian."

Irma was taken by surprise with Hannah's casual use of the word mom, but hid it. Taranee spoke up. "Well, as you already know, Will was the Keeper of the Heart, and therefore your teacher, Hannah. Cornelia, the past earth guardian, is Payden's teacher, god help us all. And Irma is Brianna's teacher, almost as worrying as Cornelia. I was the fire guardian, and Hay Lin was air."

"So that means you're my teacher." Madeline said happily as she walked up to Hay Lin.

"And you're mine." Autumn nodded to Taranee.

"Well, then let's split up. Autumn and Taranee, Maddie and Hay Lin-" Hannah said, getting Madeline to stick out her tongue at the nickname.

"Corny and Payden," Irma finished, glad that her daughter was good with nicknames too. "And Will, Hannah, Brianna, and me."

"Ok. But actually work you guys." Taranee joked, walking off with Autumn.

"We will! And don't worry, I won't corrupt her… too much…" Irma smiled.

* * *

><p><em><span>Cornelia and Payden<span>_

_Yay, I'm learning from a b with and itch… _Payden thought, following Cornelia glumly.

"Well, it's obvious we got off to a bad start." Cornelia began. "But, we'll just have to fix that. Starting with, your attitude."

"My attitude?" Payden asked, shocked. "What's wrong with my attitude?"

"You think you're the best. And there's no doubt that you could be, but you aren't yet." Cornelia said. "Unless, of course, you'd like to prove me wrong."

"Of course I can. What do I have to do?" Payden was really not going to like learning from Cornelia.

"Run five laps, to begin with." At Payden's shocked expression, she added. "I'll run with you. Oh, and before that, we can spar."

_Wow… She doesn't mess around…_

* * *

><p><em><span>Hay Lin and Madeline<span>_

Hay Lin laughed, leading the way through the castle while Madeline flew behind her. "Whatcha laughing at?" Madeline asked, twirling in the air.

"You. You're so much like me." Hay Lin said with a smile.

"Do you like to draw?" Hay Lin nodded. "Make clothes?" Hay Lin nodded again, her smile growing. "Cook?"

Hay Lin laughed again. "Maybe we aren't so alike…"

* * *

><p><em><span>Taranee and Autumn<span>_

"So, is it normal for powers to show before we're actually told about this?" Autumn asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yup." Taranee had spent years in Kanrakar's library, so she could teach a lot of stuff to Autumn. "Have you burnt anything down yet?"

"Yet?"

"I'm just kidding." Taranee smiled. "One thing you'll notice is you can hear the other guardian's thoughts…."

* * *

><p><em><span>Will, Irma, Hannah and Brianna<span>_

"So why are we together whenever everyone else spilt up?" Brianna asked, not that she minded…

"Well, the Keeper of the Heart, as the leader, will be with one of the guardians through the practice sessions for a part of the time. Right now it's you, well simply because we all just met back up. I didn't want to change that." Will answered.

"Oh ok. Makes sense." Hannah said, sitting down. Brianna sat down on one side of her, Irma on the other. Irma grabbed her daughter's hand, making both of them smile.

Will sat down in front of them. "Now. Lesson number one. Awareness."

"Yes! Something I'm good at!" Hannah grinned proudly.

"Really?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Then at what time did the Oracle and Halinor oh so kindly leave our presence?" Irma asked.

Hannah and Brianna looked around, just now noticing that they had left. "Opps…"

* * *

><p><em><span>A while later<span>_

Hannah was hugging Will and Irma goodbye, just as Madeline was hugging Hay Lin goodbye. Brianna and Autumn stood behind them, waiting for the goodbyes to be done. Just then, a smirking Cornelia and a very beaten up Payden walked into the room. "Let's go." Payden said gruffly.

"What happened…?" Brianna asked.

"It's nothing." Payden said, staring at the ground.

"You really do need to go." Will said, kissing Hannah's forehead. "The Oracle has been kind enough to stop time on Earth while you come here this time, but we shouldn't push it."

"Although it would've been nice if he had done that for us…" Irma remarked sarcastically.

Hannah held up the Heart with a smile and changed her friends back to normal, although Payden still looked very worn out. "Wait, we have to go back to school now?" Brianna asked, sighing dramatically. "Great."

"Like you can talk." Payden grumbled.

Hannah opened a fold to Earth, grateful that she got the hang of doing this so fast. Payden walked through first, followed by Brianna, then Autumn, Madeline and lastly, Hannah.

Cornelia laughed suddenly. Everyone looked at her weird. "Sorry. I had fun today." She said, grinning.

"What did you do to her?" Hay Lin asked.

"Put her in her place, hopefully." Cornelia answered.

Hay Lin and Will just shook their heads with smiles on their faces. "Hey, I just noticed something." Taranee said. "For the past two generations, the Keeper of the Heart and the Water guardian were together. I wonder if that'll happen this time."

"Sure seems like it." Cornelia said.

"She did have the right mother for it to happen." Will laughed, elbowing Irma.

* * *

><p><em><span>Earth. Outside of the school, around the time that they left<span>_

"I just want to skip the rest of the school day." Payden grumbled, leaning against a tree.

"On the first day?" Brianna faked a gasp. "Shame, Pay-Pay, shame."

"I swear… Don't call me that." Payden glared at Brianna.

"Cool it guys." Hannah said tiredly.

"She has a point." Madeline added in. "I'm tired too."

"At least your teacher didn't freaking beat you up." Payden complained.

"Brighten up, Payden." Autumn said. "We have freaking super powers! Do you know how amazing that is? And Hannah met her parents! This day could've been a helluva lot worse!"

Hannah smiled. "While you have a point, quiet down on the whole super power thing. You never know who can hear us."

Autumn nodded, grinning on how Hannah was already acting like a leader. "Guys, you won't believe what I can do!" Madeline gushed, turning invisible.

Autumn scoffed. _Please, _she broadcasted, making everyone gasp. _My powers cooler._

_ It'll help me cheat that's for sure. _Brianna thought, getting a laugh from everyone. "Well, I can make people do things. What about you, Pay-Pay?"

Payden didn't even bother with glaring. Instead she lifted her hand and used telekinesis to grab Brianna's shirt and lift her off the ground. Brianna grappled at her throat, as if she were being force chocked, making everyone laugh. "And you, Hannah?" Payden asked, dropping Brianna.

Hannah shook her head, still laughing, and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She opened it and suddenly… "Hey, hey, hey!" her phone said.

"That's weird." Payden said, eyeing the phone.

"Like you can talk." Brianna teased.

"Does everything do that?" Autumn asked, looking at the phone.

"Everything with AC and DC current, yes." Hannah answered with a shrug.

"Cool! It seems like you're making some new friends then!" Madeline said happily.

"Whatever you say, Maddie, whatever you say." Hannah said, looking at her friend as if she were crazy.

"HEY!" Hannah's phone yelled.

"That's about to be very annoying." Brianna grumbled.

"You have a text from Austin-o. He wants to know where the heck you are."

"Why would he…?" Hannah begun to ask, then it hit her. "Oh! I gotta go!"

"Why?" Brianna asked, her thoughts turning slightly sad because Hannah had to go. Autumn looked questioningly at the newest member of the group, but said nothing.

"You'll see." Hannah said, winking at Brianna. She waved goodbye to the group, running off.

"I guess we should go inside then…" Madeline said, kind of confused.

"I don't want to move." Payden complained, groaning.

As the group of friends started back towards the school, a voice in the shadows said, _"You never who can hear us." _Valkyrie laughed, shaking her head. "Nerissa will want to hear about this…"

* * *

><p>Brianna sat on a bench in the school, unsure what to do during her free period. <em>Hey Autumn. What's up?<em>

_ Just Human Anatomy with Payden. _Autumn replied.

_What about me?_ Payden asked.

_Oh nothing, Pay-Pay. _Brianna closed her eyes and smiled. Suddenly, a few loud beeps made her jump.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Hannah's voice rang out over the intercom.

"You probably already know us-" a guy said.

"As some of the most modest people in school!" Brianna recognized this voice, it was Austin. Hannah's twin. "Or not…"

"Annnyways! My name is Hannah!"

"I'm her twin, Austin!"

"I'm Tyler!"

"And last, but not least, I'm Rachel. And we are…"

"Head in the Clouds!" They all said this together. Brianna rolled her eyes, grinning.

"And we know it's a little early…" Austin started.

"But we have a home coming concert next month!" Hannah finished.

"Some come out and see us!" Tyler said.

"Well, that's it!" Rachel added.

"So get back to the fun of classes and…" Hannah started.

"See you in the halls!" Austin finished, letting them play off the twin thing.

"Stay classy, Sheffield!" Rachel said, finishing the announcement .

_Hannah, you truly are a dork. _Brianna thought.

_Hey, lay off. My teacher was about drive me insane. _Payden thought

_Brianna, don't say it. And thank you, thank you. You're all so kind. _Hannah laughed

_You take away all my fun…_

_ I already love this class! _That was Madeline. _Who knew Nature Science would be so cool?_

_ Nerd. _Autumn, Payden, and Brianna thought.

_So, Bri, where are you? _Hannah asked.

_Staring at your butt, actually. _Brianna laughed, watching Hannah turn around.

_TMI, guys, TMI. _

_ Shut it, Payden. You're just jealous._

* * *

><p><strong><span>AN:** Hey. I'm sorry for any mistakes, please tell me if I did.

I honestly wanted to keep writing this chapter, but it'd probably have ended a heck of a lot longer...

Well, I dunno what to say now...

Please review! It honestly means a lot to me!

See ya!

**Phantom**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Ash lay, hovering a few inches off the ground. His eyes were closed, his hair was messy. He was day dreaming and humming some random tune that had popped into his mind. He was as free as could be; he had no worries in the world.

Boy, was that about to change.

Ash heard her footsteps, even though she thought she was as quiet as she could possibly be. But he went along with it and didn't open his eyes until she spoke.

"And you're really loud." Ash grinned, looking at her. He kept hovering until he got in a standing position, then he let his feet touch the ground. "So what do you want me to do?"

"What, I can't just talk to you?" Valkyrie asked, feigning innocence.

"Oh you can." Ash answered with a shrug. "But whenever you point out my laziness, you want something."

"Fine, fine. You caught me." Valkyrie raised her hands in mock defeat. "I want to see how good the new guardians actually are."

"Actually are?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. They are really cocky. I want to know if it's all talk or not."

"Ok. So what is it I need to do?"

* * *

><p><em><span>Sheffield Institute<span>_

"I love English!" Hannah said happily, practically floating out of the school.

Payden threw a pencil at her, which Hannah so artfully dogged. "You are a nerd."

"You're just jealous." Autumn joked, smiling at her friends, following them out of the school.

"Who's jealous?" Brianna asked, walking up.

"Payden is. Cause I'm so handsome and smart." Hannah answered, her smile growing.

_Isn't that the truth… _Brianna thought.

_Down, dog._ Autumn thought to Brianna, making her look nervously at the mind reader. _Don't worry, I won't tell… Yet. _She had winked at that last part.

"Hey! Why are you winking?" Payden asked, looking at Autumn, confused.

"Does someone have a secret?" Hannah asked this sarcastically, looking at Brianna.

"Me?" Brianna returned the sarcasm. "Never. Hey, where's Maddie?"

"At home." Autumn answered, sitting on Hannah's motorcycle. "She had a free period as her last block."

"Speaking of home, someone needs to go." Austin said, walking up and patting his little sister on her head.

"Okay, okay." Hannah shook her head and pulled Autumn off of her bike. "See ya guys. Call me if anything comes up…"

"Will do, boss." Brianna joked. After Hannah and Austin left, she added, "Well, my house is that way." She pointed to behind her.

"Sorry, buddy." Autumn said with a frown. "Our houses are the other way."

"See you tomorrow." Payden said, walking off with Autumn.

"Yeah… See you…" Brianna muttered to herself, starting her walk home. After a few minutes she heard a rustling in the trees next to her. She looked around her and saw that there was no one around her. "Great…"

"I know right?" Brianna jumped, now seeing the guy standing a few steps in front of her. "I'm Ash Rush, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you…?" Brianna was hesitant. This guy, Ash, gave off the wrong vibe to her.

"So you're the new water guardian huh?"

"Yeah…" Brianna said, trying to play it safe. _Autumn! I'm in front of the old book store._

"Well… I hate to do this but…" _Help!_

* * *

><p><em><span>Autumn and Payden<span>_

_ Autumn! _Autumn stopped in her tracks, surprised. _I'm in front of the old book store._

"What're you doing?" Payden asked, turning around and looking at her friend.

Suddenly, Autumn jumped. "We have to go! Brianna needs are help." Autumn started running to the old book store.

"I can't even get a few hours off? Wow…" Payden said, running after Autumn.

* * *

><p><em><span>Hannah<span>_

_ Hannah! Get to the old bookstore! _

Hannah was glad she was at a stoplight, cause if she had been driving at that moment there surely would've been a crash. _Be right there._" Hey Austin! I forgot something at the school! I'll be home in a few hours, ok?" She yelled over the engine, right as the light turned green. She sped off, making a barely legal U-turn. She only barely heard her brother yelling at her because he was confused.

She pulled up to the old bookstore and cut her bike off. She leaning it against a light post and took her helmet off, looking around the side walk. Suddenly, Autumn and Payden ran up, both of them out of breath.

"What happened?" Hannah asked immediately.

"I don't know. All she said was that she was here. Then a few moments later she said she needed help." Autumn explained.

"Okay." Hannah said, thinking. "Autumn, get Madeline here. Payden, come look around with me."

"On it, boss."

"After you."

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian<span>_

Brianna woke up to find herself on a cave floor with a slight headache. She looked around and groaned internally. She was in a cell, with metal bars and everything. And for once in her life, she was upset that her back pack was across the room, teasing her. She looked around the room on the other side of the bars and saw Ash, leaning against a wall.

"Hey there." Brianna said, anger in her voice.

"Nice to see you're up." He replied, sounding highly bored.

"Aw, you're so nice." Brianna joked.

"Nice enough to run an errand for me." Valkyrie added, walking into the cave. "You did a good job, Ash."

"Why thank you." He said with a smile.

* * *

><p><em><span>Earth<span>_

"So what's going on?" Madeline asked as she ran up to Autumn.

"Brianna's gone. Right before she disappeared she said she needed help. Problem was, I was far away from here." Autumn explained. "Hannah and Payden went looking in the trees. Hannah told me to wait here for you."

That second, Payden came back. "Hey guys. Perfect timing. We found something. Follow me." Payden said. Then she turned around and started walking to where Hannah was standing in front of a fold, holding a piece of paper. "Found them."

"Good…" Hannah replied, still staring at the paper and thinking.

"What's wrong, Hannah?" Madeline asked, worried.

"What's wrong?" Hannah yelled, turning around to face the three guardians. She then shook her head and sighed, calming down. "Sorry Madeline…"

Madeline shrugged. "I understand…"

"So what's the paper say?" Autumn asked hesitantly. She didn't want to set Hannah off again.

"It says that Brianna's been kidnapped. There's a map on it, showing where it is. And it says for me to come alone." Hannah explained.

"Like hell you're going alone." Payden said.

"I figured you'd say that." Hannah replied with a slight smile at Payden. "So here's the plan…"

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian<span>_

"What do you want? Why drag me here?" Brianna asked, staring at her two captors.

"Like I would tell you." Valkyrie said.

"She wants to talk to the girl with the awkward haircut." Ash sighed. Then at Valkyrie's glare he added, "Hey! I just wanted to tell the truth."

"Awkward haircut?" Brianna asked, confusion showed on her face.

"He means your leader. I want to talk to your leader." Valkyrie answered.

"Oh…" Brianna said. "Hannah…"

* * *

><p><em><span>Earth<span>_

"So you guys understand the plan?" Hannah asked again. She didn't want to risk someone being lost.

"Yes." Autumn said, also again. They'd been over it three times and Hannah still couldn't stop asking if they knew it. "Just go, okay?"

"Okay, okay." Hannah said, shaking her head at her friends. With a wave, she jumped through the fold and landed on Meridian. She sighed and started walking to where the map led her.

* * *

><p><em><span>Lillian's house<span>_

"So what? You aren't a guardian anymore?" Lillian asked, sitting by her sister on her couch.

"Nope." Cornelia answered. "Not anymore, little sis. They've given five new teenagers all that responsibility…."

"Sounds like you don't like that." Lillian said, drinking some water.

"I just worry about them… Especially the earth guardian…"

"Do you like them?"

"Yeah." Cornelia said this with a smile. "They remind me so much of how we were."

"Well, at least now Matt can fight alongside the guardians without throwing a fit." Lillian added, thinking of her regents. She did take back some of her power, but she let them keep enough to be able to fight still. She liked knowing that there were people fighting for earth.

Cornelia snorted. "Yeah right. The new leader is Will and Irma's daughter. That'd go over well."

"You have to bring them to meet me." Lillian said, off on her own world.

"Yeah…" Cornelia laid her head back. "I wonder if they've gotten into trouble yet…"

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian<span>_

It had been quite for a few minutes when suddenly Ash chuckled. Valkyrie and Brianna looked at him, confused. "What? You don't hear that?" This was directed to Valkyrie. When she shook her head, he added. "Well, get your hearing checked. The guardian is coming."

This caused both Valkyrie and Brianna to jump to their feet. Brianna grabbed the bars, worried and anxious to see if Hannah had come alone or not. She sighed, seeing Hannah walk in the cave with no one behind her.

"So, you know how to listen." Valkyrie said. "Good."

"What do you want?" Hannah growled, not even glancing at Brianna.

"Why don't you come and find out?" Valkyrie taunted.

Hannah pulled out the heart, unaware that Ash was suddenly behind her. Before Brianna could yell out a warning, he took it and appeared at Valkyrie's side. He smiled, holding it up. "No go, sis-tah."

Hannah shook her head, smiling. She held out her hand and said, "You're wrong." To their surprise, the heart appeared in her hand. "Guardians unite!"

Brianna flexed, happy to be in her guardian form. She had her powers, and now she could do something. Problem was, she was still behind bars.

"Oh, yay." Ash said sarcastically. "To bad you're all alone."

Suddenly, he fell to the floor. Payden's laugh was heard as she, Autumn, and Madeline became visible. Payden and Madeline had been behind Ash and Valkyrie, while Autumn had been next to the bars. Without a word, Autumn started burning the bars to get Brianna free. After a few minutes, Brianna flew out. Hannah noticed and stopped fighting. "Come on, girls. I think they've had enough." She said with a slight smile. They each nodded and began to fly out of the cave. Before they were completely gone though, Hannah turned around and yelled. "Hint for next time, you can't take a heart by force!"

With this, they each laughed and flew to an open field. Hannah changed them back to normal and opened a fold, wordlessly. It was uncharacteristic of her, and it upset Brianna. It was as if Hannah was purposely ignoring her. Madeline, Payden, and Autumn seemed oblivious though.

Once on Earth, they began to part their separate ways. Madeline offered to walk Brianna home. Autumn asked Payden to wait down the street for her, for she wanted to talk to Hannah.

With everyone gone, Autumn turned to Hannah and almost yelled, "What the fuck was that?"

"What?" Hannah yelled back, shocked.

"You completely ignored her!" Autumn said, fire flickering in her eyes. "She had been kidnapped, and you try to cheer her up by not even looking at her! Do you know how she's feeling right now? She's heart broken."

"I…" Hannah was speechless. "I hadn't thought about that…"

"Then what were you thinking about?" Autumn asked, a concerned look on her face.

"When I had realized she was taken… And they wanted me, they were just using her as bait…" Hannah shook her head. "I felt like crap. But I felt so worried, and so pissed. So weak… What if I couldn't had saved her? It'd be all my fault…"

"Hannah…" Autumn hugged her friend.

"I don't want to like her…" Hannah said, letting a tear fall. "I don't want to be hurt again…"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's<strong>** Note:** Uh-oh. Well, I'm going to try to update every Thursday. But I don't know how well that will work. Thank you for reading.

If I have made any mistake, or anything could be better, please tell me! I can't make this better without being told that I'm screwing things up. Also, if you feel I'm not writing a character enough, tell me. I tend to do that, and I'd love it if you did tell me that.

**So please review!** It helps so much!

See you in a week,

Phantom


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

A few days had passed, and things had calmed down. Hannah had almost completely stopped ignoring Brianna, but she still had her moments. Brianna pretended to not notice, as did everyone else. One thing they did notice was that no matter how hard Brianna tried, she couldn't remember the guy's name. This greatly pissed off Payden, but she didn't say anything due to Autumn and Madeline.

Autumn and Hannah carried their lunches and lead the group outside. Brianna was behind them, then Payden and Madeline. Payden and Madeline were talking, while Brianna was listening to Autumn and Hannah talk about their first block.

"I'm going to love mythology." Hannah said, smiling.

"How many times are you going to say that?" Autumn teased, rolling her eyes.

"I'm terribly sorry." Hannah's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "But it's true! And you know it is!"

"Yeah. Especially that myth we learned about today." Autumn said. "I've heard about vampire myths, but none like this."

"I know. Completely changing vampire ideals. That Ash Rush guy must've been smart." Hannah said.

Brianna stopped, her eyes widening. She recognized that name… Too late had she realized what she had done though, because Payden walked straight into her. "What the-?" Payden said, falling and landing on Brianna.

"Sorry…" Brianna apologized, offering her hand to help up Payden.

Payden ignored the hand and got up. "What's wrong with you?" She yelled. Madeline was happy they were outside and alone.

"I said I was sorry!" Brianna yelled back.

"Guys!" Hannah shouted at the both of them. "Cool it." Payden glared at Brianna, then glared at Hannah, then turned around and sat up against a tree.

"What happened?" Autumn asked Brianna, confused.

"We were just talking, then suddenly Brianna stopped and Payden ran into her." Madeline explained with a shrug.

"Well?" Hannah asked, waiting for Brianna to explain why she had stopped.

"I remembered his name…"

* * *

><p><em><span>Later, after school on the trail where they found the fold.<span>_

Payden was still sulking. Ever since this guardian business had started, she'd been unhappy. She did have moments where she was herself, but those moments were random and few. Because of this, she sat a little apart from the group. She was playing with a few blades of grass, and suddenly sent them flying towards a tree. They stuck to the tree like razor blades.

Madeline's eyes widened seeing this. It bugged her that she had no idea how to cheer her friend up. Before she had time to think of some magnificent plan, Autumn spoke.

"So the guy who knocked you out and kidnapped you is Ash Rush?" She had asked.

"Is that a bad thing?" Brianna asked, glancing back and forth between Hannah and Autumn with a worried look.

"I don't think so…" Hannah replied, looking at Autumn.

"Wait, what did he do exactly?" Madeline asked, walking up to them and sitting, joining the group.

"According to the myth, he found out how vampires no longer drink blood, where they can survive on the emotions and energy of the people around them." Autumn answered, looking at the air guardian.

"They became known as Energy Vampires." Hannah added, looking at Brianna.

"Wait, these guys sound like good guys." Madeline said, confused.

"I was just thinking that. Are you becoming a physic to?" Brianna joked half-heartedly.

"You need to refine your definition of good guys." Payden said, walking up. "Last time I checked, good guys don't kidnap teenage girls, bad guys do."

"People change." Hannah offered. "Maybe he has too."

"Yeah he has." Brianna said, shaking her head.

"So what do we know about them?" Hannah asked.

"The myth says that they are faster and stronger than humans." Autumn answered.

"Well, we saw that." Payden said dryly.

"They can open folds." Madeline added.

"Ash has good hearing." Brianna said. "Really good hearing. He was talking about it."

"They have some knowledge of guardians..." Autumn said suddenly. Seeing the confused looks on her friends faces, she explained. "They knew to grab the Heart before Hannah could do anything."

"Their knowledge seems limited though. They didn't know we could be invisible." Madeline said.

"Still." Hannah looked at all of them. "We need to be on guard, got it?" Everyone nodded. "Good."

With that, they all started on their way home, though this time, Hannah drove Brianna home to be safe.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> That is officially the shortest non-one shot chapter I have ever wrote. I'm sorry and I hate it just as much as you. I'm working hard on the next chapter and it is already longer than this. I promise to try to be more consistent and not make shortness my normal. I'm loving the reviews, it brightens my day to get them!

**Phantom**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Well, it has been a week since we've last seen our new guardians. Since then, Hannah has given up on ignoring Brianna. She never apologized, and Brianna had never asked why Hannah had acted like that. They just ignored that it had happened.

They hadn't heard from Ash and Valkyrie since last week too. They were happy about this though. They had met up to train two times, and Payden was warming up to Cornelia. Everyone seemed to be getting the hang of their powers. Needless to say, things were about to be shaken up a little bit.

* * *

><p><em><span>Earth<span>_

Brianna hummed, drawing the streets she knew so well. Their art assignment was to draw their favorite place they had been in their life. The place could have people in it. The best part was that they didn't have to explain why that place was their favorite.

Brianna suddenly gasped, her eyes widening. Now that she was looking at the streets she used to walk every day, a memory came to her mind.

"You okay, Bri?" Hannah asked a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah." Brianna answered, looking at her with a smile. "I just realized something. I've seen you before a week ago."

"I've got to hear this story." Madeline said, looking up from her drawing.

"I hate to break it to you, but I don't remember seeing you…" Hannah said hesitantly. To be honest, there was a time last year that her memory was blurry. But she preferred to not think about that.

"I remember it…" Brianna smiled, and started telling her story.

* * *

><p><em><span>New York, New York. About a year ago.<span>_

Brianna sat on her usual bench, a bottle of water in her hand. She had always walked here whenever she needed to clear her mind, and that day had been no different. She stopped staring at the sky and started people watching. Some people were people who lived in New York, others were visitors. You could tell the difference because they people who lived in New York walked fast, a destination in mind. The visitors looked at everything with curiosity.

"Come on, Hannah!" Brianna over heard some guy saying. She decided to listen in. It seemed the guy was talking to the short person next to him. They had to be related, they looked so alike. The short person, Hannah, looked up at the guy who had spoken with a lifeless look. Brianna had seen that look before. Something horribly bad had to have happened to this girl for her to look like that. "We're in the Big Apple! Get your mind off of what happened."

Brianna couldn't hear what Hannah had muttered, but she was lucky enough that Austin repeated it. "Like hell, that's easier than it seems!" Austin said. It seemed as if he was pissed, but you could see the underlining worry on his face. He cared, he really did. "There are so many distractions. It's easy to get lost in this town." Hannah was still looking down at the ground. "At least try, for me?"

* * *

><p><em><span>Back at the art class<span>_

Hannah was looking down at the floor. She knew why she hadn't remembered that, hell she didn't want to think about remembering that. Madeline looked at Hannah worried, Autumn looked at Brianna with a concerned look, and Payden was glaring at Brianna.

"What…?" Brianna asked, completely lost. Then it clicked. She looked down at Hannah with a frown, realization flooding her features.

"Mrs. Owens, can I go the bathroom?" Hannah asked, suddenly getting up. When Mrs. Owens nodded, Hannah left.

"Good job!" Payden was pissed. "Look what you did!"

"I didn't mean to…" Brianna said, guiltily.

"Still! You could've thought before you did that!" Payden almost yelled.

"Payden! Calm down!" Autumn glared back at Payden, fire flickering in her eyes.

"Both of you shut it!" Madeline almost yelled too. "You aren't helping anything by fighting with each other, so stop it!"

"I have a question..." Brianna said hesitantly. "What was wrong with Hannah?"

"Go ask her yourself. Mrs. Owens won't care." Autumn said, telling that Hannah needed Brianna right now. Brianna nodded and left.

Hannah sighed, looking through all the pockets on her jacket. Where was that damn knife? She shook her head and threw her jacket at the wall, remembering that she took the knife out. She knew that hurting herself as a distraction was not good… But she had done it anyways. Hannah shook her head, letting tears fall.

Brianna came up behind Hannah and hugged her. Hannah turned her head slightly and began to cry into Brianna's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" Brianna muttered into Hannah's hair, running her hands through it again and again.

* * *

><p><em><span>The aura mere chamber<span>_

Luba's eyes widened, the aura mere's lights shining on her skin. "Oracle!"

The Oracle calmly walked into the room. He nodded, seeing the odd behavior of the aura meres. "Your questions will be answered shortly. Gather the old and new guardians."

* * *

><p><em><span>Last period in school<span>_

Madeline lay sleeping on a bench. It was her free period, and she didn't bother going home. She wanted to wait for her friends, and fell asleep doing so. She shuddered, as if having a bad dream. Meanwhile, on the other side of school, Hannah, Payden, and Autumn sat in English class.

Payden sat and stared at her small friend, also known as the Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar. Payden looked sullen as she watched how Hannah was completely and utterly immersed in whatever the teacher was talking about. Payden turn to complain to Autumn, when a puzzled look crossed over her face. "Autumn?" She whispered, glad that Autumn sat behind her. "You okay?"

Autumn shook her head, letting out a small groan. "What's wrong? Big brain go boom?" Payden asked, suddenly worried. Autumn looked up at her and the second their eyes met, Payden was suddenly in a world of terror.

_"Dad!" The view turned, to see a small boy running out into a field, following a trail of blood and footsteps. Behind him, Ash was watching as a village burned to the ground. The boy looked up, just in time to see Valkyrie drop the now dead body of the boy's father and lunge at the small boy._

Payden shook her head, pulling herself out of the horrendous images. "What was that?" She asked.

"I think Madeline's dreaming…" Autumn whispered, sounding as if she's in pain.

"Then wake her up! Here, Hannah and I will join." Payden leaned over and 'lightly' smacked Hannah on the head. She quickly explained that they needed to wake up Madeline, and Hannah nodded and joined in thinking with Autumn.

_'Wake up!' _Three people's thoughts shook Madeline out of her nightmare, and sent her falling off her bench.

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian<span>_

_I laughed and continued to chase the short Asian girl in front of me. We burst through some underbrush, only to happen upon two of our friends, laying on top of each other and looking up at us. It was obvious that the two girls were previously kissing, especially the blush that was spreading on the dark haired cheeks._

_ "It looks like we interrupted something…" I laughed, and elbowed the other girl softly._

_ "It seems we did." Yan Lin laughed too. Now the two girls were sitting up and looking at us. The red haired one simply smiled, while Nerissa rolled her eyes at us._

_ I opened my mouth to say something, but two new voices cut me off. _

"_Anyone here?"_

_ "Hello-o?" _

_ "Hali, Kadma, we're over here!" Cassidy yelled out. Her smile was evident in her voice. _

_ "Oh, hey guys." Kadma said, stepping into the small clearing we were all in. "Ready to-" She stopped whatever it was she was saying as her eyes fell upon me. "Hey Val."_

_ "Hey, don't mind me. I'm about to have to go." I spoke as Halinor joined us._

_ "You don't have to…" Yan Lin said softly, looking around at all of our friends. I saw their looks. I felt left out… Their looks said they were sad that I would need to leave, but it was important that I did._

_ "It's fine…" I hoped my pain wasn't obvious. I was getting better at hiding my emotions, and now I was grateful for that. "I need to study." I hugged Yan Lin, waved to the rest of my friends, and left the way I came. _

_Suddenly, I stopped and noticed something. My favorite wristband was gone. "Crap, how'd it break again?" I muttered to myself. I began tracing my steps, carefully searching the ground for it. As I was coming closer to the girls, I said, "Hey, sorry, have you seen my-"_

_My hand was there, blocking the sudden and intense light, but once it fell, I was shocked. "What the…?"_

Valkyrie shook her head. Thinking about her time on earth wasn't going to help her at all. She needed to focus. She spun on her heel, her eyes darkening as she walked to the nearest town, hoping she would run into Ash on her way.

* * *

><p><em><span>Earth<span>_

"We need to go there now and save them!" Madeline begged. The guardians stood in the same forest behind the school. Brianna was filled in, and now they were debating whether or not to go to Meridian. So far, Payden was against it, out of fear someone would get hurt. Madeline and Autumn were for it, and Hannah and Brianna were undecided. What happened earlier with Hannah, was completely forgotten.

"You could've just been dreaming." Payden argued.

"Or she could've been seeing the future." Autumn countered.

"It wouldn't be odd, considering what's happened lately." Brianna put in.

"Or, it could be too late." Payden said. "I don't want any of us to get hurt."

"…It's an occupational hazard…" Hannah finally jumped into the conversation. "We're Guardians. We are supposed to keep the peace…"

"Exactly!" Autumn said. "You saw what we saw, Payden. You know how horrendous it was. We can't just stand by."

"So we're going?" Madeline asked, looking at Hannah.

Hannah nodded. "Yeah." She held up the heart and said, "Guardians! Unite!"

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian<span>_

The five guardians came out of the newly made fold, all in their guardian forms. Hannah, Brianna, and Payden landed on the ground, while Autumn and Madeline eagerly searched around them for any signs of Madeline's dream.

"Where are the special guests?" Payden asked her voice sounding biting.

Suddenly, a blur flew by, taking Madeline with it. It stopped a few feet away, showing that it was Ash. Now, he and the air guardian were fighting intensely. "Found them." Brianna said, watching as Autumn flew over to help Madeline with Payden close behind.

As Ash flew up, Valkyrie began attacking Brianna, and Hannah jumped in to help. Ash jumped out and grabbed Madeline's wrist. That touch, their skin making contact, froze them. An electric current ran through them and suddenly no one else was there but them. They stared into each other's eyes, lost. That happened for about two seconds, although it seemed like forever to them, until Autumn hit Ash, freeing Madeline from his grip.

It was now evident that the guardians had the upper hand and were on their way to winning. Valkyrie looked between Hannah and Brianna, as they were circling her. She smiled and jumped into the air, flying straight up. As she suspected, the guardians followed her.

Ash pushed Autumn into Payden, confusing the both. He then turned and hit Hannah, sending her directly into Valkyrie's arms.

Brianna charged at them, but Valkyrie had Hannah in what looked like a sick embrace. Valkyrie's teeth hovered over Hannah's throat. "Don't." Valkyrie said her voice loud. Now the guardians froze eyes big.

Hannah squirmed. Valkyrie shook her head, Hannah's fighting was useless. Ash now was behind Valkyrie's back, protectively. No one noticed, however, how his eyes were not straying from one guardian.

Valkyrie meet Brianna's eyes and gave her an evil smile. She winked, then-keeping the eye contact-bit into Hannah's neck. A scream escaped from Hannah's mouth, but stopped off quickly. Her eyes slowly began to shut. The guardians were frozen in horror, watching as this happened.

After a minute or two, Valkyrie looked up and licked her lips. She dangled Hannah by her wrist, winked again, and then dropped the now unconscious Hannah. "No!" They cried out. Brianna was the closest and she caught her safely. Just as the others flew up to see if their friend and leader was ok, and Hannah's guardian form flickered, then disappeared leaving her in her regular clothing. "Guys…" Brianna started, but she was too late.

Suddenly, they were falling. Hannah's powers were gone, so now all of their powers were gone too. Autumn reacted quickly, and searched for an answer. "Payden!" She screamed. Payden looked up, and nodded.

"Earth!" Payden yelled, stretching out her arms. The ground reacted and sent up vines, softly catching the guardians. Brianna laid Hannah on the ground, dead silent and covered with sadness as she stared down at the other girl. Autumn, Payden and Madeline walked up to them.

Autumn bent down and patted Bri's shoulder. "We need to take her to Kandrakar." Brianna nodded and watched as Madeline bent down and picked up the heart.

* * *

><p><em><span>Kandrakar<span>_

W.I.T.C.H. stood patiently, waiting for the Oracle. He said it was important, but they didn't know what 'it' was. Irma stood against a wall, Will sitting at her feet. Taranee and Cornelia were sitting on a nearby bench, Hay Lin lying against Taranee's feet. Cornelia opened her mouth to say something-probably about to complain about having to wait-when suddenly a fold opened up in the room.

Payden walked in first, carrying Hannah. Brianna walked in second, followed by Madeline and Autumn. All of them had sad looks on their faces, they looked defeated, and they felt like it too. W.I.T.C.H. gasped, and Irma ran up to Payden. She took Hannah from Payden's arms and looked at them questioningly as Will walked up to her wife's side.

"I had a bad dream…" Madeline began explaining. "It was about the two vampires attacking a village. So we went to Meridian to stop them. They tricked us… And Valkyrie bit Hannah then dropped her in midair…" Needless to say, Madeline was feeling a little guilty. Autumn put a hand on her shoulder for comfort. They were glad that they had already told the past guardians about their enemies, so they didn't have to explain that know.

"We can take her to the healers…" Will said, patting Irma's back. "Why don't you guys train a little?" She looked to Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin. All of them nodded and began getting up. "Come on…" Will muttered, turning and walking out of the room, Irma and Brianna following her.

* * *

><p><em><span>Forty-five minutes later<span>_

Hannah lay on a rock made bed, but it was comfortable. She slowly blinked, clearing her eyes, and saw Brianna's face staring down at her with a slight smile. "Hey there, sleeping beauty." Brianna joked lightly.

"Where are we?" Hannah asked her voice soft and quiet as she looked around the small room. They were the only two in it, and it was so bright. Immediately, Hannah knew where they were. "Kandrakar… Where are the others? What happened?"

"They're practicing. Your parents are out walking outside. If you call pacing walking…" Brianna replied. "You got bit by Mrs. Pain-In-The-Neck. Then she dropped you. It's a good thing Payden isn't as slow as she looks."

Hannah laughed. "You shouldn't be so mean…" Her voice was weak, with made Bri's smile disappear. Hannah tried to sit up and winced. Brianna leaned over and began supporting her.

"Hey, hey. Careful now, fearless leader. Can't have you passing out again." Brianna said, concern covering her face.

"Stop it." Hannah replied, sticking her tongue out. She lay back down and groaned. "I really don't want to be bed-ridden."

"I'll be right back…" Brianna whispered, kissing her forehead. She quickly left the room, only to return with Hannah's parents, Will and Irma.

"Hey there…" Irma and Will said at the same time when they walked in the room. "How're you feeling?" Irma asked.

"Tired." Hannah replied with a small smile. "How're you?"

"Worried." Will said, shaking Hannah's hair.

"Sorry…" Hannah dropped her head out of guilt. "Well… When am I going to get better?" She asked, changing the subject.

"It'll take a few days…" Irma said slowly. Confusion flashed on Hannah's face, and Irma began answering her never asked question. "You'll be staying with us until then. We've already called the foster home, and they are telling Austin you're at a friend's house."

"You'll be resting and relaxing." Will added. "So we can finally baby you again." She joked, making them smile.

"Lucky…" Brianna grumbled playfully. "You'll be waited on like you're a queen."

Hannah laughed, and was about to reply until Madeline ran into the room was suddenly hugging her, and taking away her ability to breath while she was at it. "You're awake!" Madeline squealed.

"Yeah, and we'd prefer you didn't kill her before we get to see her." Payden said, pulling Madeline off of Hannah.

"Thanks Payden." Hannah said, laughing softly.

"We brought you something." Autumn walked into the now crowded room with a wheelchair. Hannah sighed in relief. After a failed attempt of her trying to get up herself, Payden telepathically lifted her and set her down in the wheelchair.

"Good job." Cornelia said once they wheeled Hannah out into the much bigger room where Cornelia, Taranee, and Hay Lin were waiting with Luba and Oracle. "You're getting better with your powers."

"Thank you." Payden smiled, and then looked around. "So wait… Why're you guys here anyways?"

"Hey, that's what we've been wondering." Hay Lin said. Taranee nodded, and Hay Lin's statement caused everyone to look at the Oracle and Luba.

"I am Luba, the protector of the aurameres. It is a pleasure to meet you guardians." Luba nodded respectfully.

"There seems to be an anomaly a curing at the moment. We gathered you all here specifically for that. Please, follow us to the chamber of aurameres." The Oracle said, turning and walking. He looked over his shoulder and saw everyone following them. "To answer your question, Autumn, the aurameres are the sources of your powers. They transmit them to the Heart, then to all of you." Autumn almost tripped in surprise, sending a few laughs throughout the group.

The new guardians gasped as the gigantic doors opened and they saw the aurameres. Once W.I.T.C.H. walked into the room, the aurameres left their original circle and flew over their past owners heads. The old guardians looked at the aurameres with sad smiles.

"What's going on?" Madeline asked.

"They're saying goodbye…" Hay Lin answered, raising her hand and almost touching the auramere. She left her hand suspended in mid-air though.

After a minute or so, the aurameres returned to the circular table. Luba went to stand by them as the Oracle turned to the group and began talking. "As you all know, there are five guardians. These five aurameres give the powers to the current guardians. But there are six elements, not just five. The sixth one is called Dark, or Darkness." As he spoke a new auramere began lowering itself and joining the other aurameres. This one was black with gray swirling around in it.

"Why didn't you tell us this?" Will asked.

"Because the sixth element has laid dormant for a long time." The Oracle answered.

"Wait… Who's the sixth guardian?" Brianna asked. When she asked this though, the dark auramere and the light auramere began making static. Luba's and the Oracle's eyes widened as this happened. Hannah slumped forward, suddenly faint. Brianna and Irma leaned down to check on her, as the others watched in interest at the two aurameres. They stared, captured, as the dark and light aurameres fused together, leaving one. This new one was black, with swirls of silver and blue in it.

"What just happened?" Autumn asked her voice strong and full of concern.

The Oracle turned to them. His eyes had fear in them that he rarely showed. "Hannah now has the powers of the elements Light and Dark…"

* * *

><p><strong><span>Author's<span> note:** Yeah, so you've probably already figured out by now that I don't keep up a posting schedule all too well. I am sorry, but it's how I am. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this long chapter. Hopefully, it makes up for the super short one. I'll now use this space to clear out a few things...

Ages: W.I.T.C.H. is thirty four, except Cornelia is thirty five. All the new guardians are fifteen, but Brianna is the youngest, Payden the oldest.

Past: You might be wondering what happened to W.I.T.C.H. to get them to where they are now. Or where are they now? Irma is working as a radio show host, Irma Lair on the Air. Will helps out part time at The Silver Dragon. Hay Lin is owner of The Silver Dragon. Cornelia works at a Nature Reserve, and Taranee is a scientist. Now, I've been thinking of writing a side-story as to what happened to them to get them to where they are now, or maybe I should just summarize it and put it as a chapter. It is your choice, so let me know which one you would prefer.

Elements: Just want to clear up one tiny thing. Yes, I have changed Quintessence to Light. Simply because Light just seems better and fits with the dark thing(Which fits with the plot.) Yes, Hannah now has control over the two of these, but that will change.

Family: Irma got pregnant and had twins, Hannah and Austin. Will and Irma eventually felt they needed to give them up, and now they live in a foster home. Hannah has decided to keep it a secret from her twin that she met their parents.

I think that's all. If not, well ask and I'll tell.

**Phantom**


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own anything except my own concepts and characters.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eight<strong>

**New Powers, Part One**

After the big shock that they received Thursday, they returned to Heatherfield. Hannah spent Friday in the library of Kanrakar, searching for information on the past Dark guardians, seeing as it had been so long that now there were none around to help teach her. Now, the guardians are standing in the backyard of Will and Irma's house. It's Saturday and Hannah has been feeling better and is now walking.

Brianna watched almost comically as Hannah paced with excitement. Autumn and Madeline joined them in the backyard, coming to a stop next to Payden. "Finally!" Hannah said, spinning around and looking at them.

"Hey, Miss Energetic." Autumn joked, looking at her friend. "What's up?"

"You won't believe what I found out!" Hannah answered, a huge smile spreading across her face. "I can't wait to face that bloodsucker with my new powers. I'll show her who to mess with!"

"What're your new powers?" Madeline asked.

Hannah opened her mouth, but no words got to come out. She was going to wonder what her new power would turn her into, when suddenly she was circled in a tornado of Dark and Light. Brianna gasped and ran forward, but Payden jumped and caught her arm, effectively stopping her. "What're you doing?" Payden snapped.

"What're you doing?" Brianna snapped back with a glare. "She might need us!"

"She doesn't need us getting hurt!" Payden argued.

Meanwhile, the tornado of elements was dissipating into smoke. Autumn walked up, with Madeline slowly following her. "Guys…" Autumn said, sounding soft comparing to them yelling at each other. "We should check on…" Autumn's voice hitched as she looked where Hannah was supposed to be standing… Because now, there was a black panther there instead of their friend.

"Whoa." Madeline said, eyes widening.

The panther looked at each one of them, a look almost like confusion on its face. It opened its mouth as if to speak, but a cat like whine came out. Then the panther looked down at its paws, and turned its head to look at its tail. Suddenly, Autumn burst out into laughter. Seeing her friends' confused looks, she started to explain. "Her thoughts… Are so… funny…"

"Her thoughts…?" Brianna asked, and then gasped. "That's Hannah?"

Hannah, the panther, let out a whine. Then, Hannah's voice rang out in their minds. _'Aw, you don't recognize me? You're getting as bad as Pay-Pay.'_

"Hey, don't call me that!" Payden said, but she couldn't help to smile along with the others.

Hannah ran in a circle. _'You have got to go get my mom!' _Autumn's laughter had reduced, but everyone else's laughter grew when Hannah thought this. Her voice was so happy and care free. Madeline nodded, and went into the house. No one had to ask which mom she was asking about, seeing as Irma was at her job, being 'Irma Lair, on the Air.'

Will followed Madeline out into the yard. "What is so important…" Her question fell into the air as her eyes fell upon her daughter the panther. "What is that doing here and where is Hannah?"

"Hannah says she's insulted that you don't recognize her." Brianna said, her laughter dying down a little.

"Hannah… What…?" Will's forehead crunched in confusion. "Wait… Is that… Hannah?"

The panther nodded and gave a wide smile, then jumped gracefully and landed on Will, pushing her to the ground but not hurting her. "My daughter is a full grown panther…" Will said, blinking a few times.

Hannah nodded again, then changed back to her human form. "Awesome right?" However, she hadn't noticed one thing…

Madeline coughed. "Um… Hannah…"

"What?" Hannah asked, looking over her shoulder. She then noticed how her friends were looking down. Hannah was in her birthday suit….

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian. Elyon's Castle.<span>_

Cornelia laid on the queen bed. Suddenly, she found that ironic. It actually was a queen's bed. Sure enough, then Elyon herself walked in. Cornelia sat up with a smile. "Hey there."

"Hey." Elyon replied. "It's been a while since I've seen you." The queen walked over, sat beside her friend, and hugged her. "What's up?"

"Does something have to be up?" Cornelia joked. "I can't just randomly visit my best friend?"

This made Elyon laugh and smile. "Of course not. I was just wondering. Although, if there were something going on, I guess the others would be here as well… So how's the guardian business these days?"

"All dried up. For us, anyways." Cornelia said. She waited until she saw understanding on her friend's face before continuing. "There's a new set of guardians."

"Really? Why?" Elyon was shocked. She thought the guardians were doing fine.

"Who knows?" Cornelia answered. "Oh Great Bald Guy thought it was for the better, but of course he didn't tell us why." Cornelia shook her head. "Anyways, that's only part of why I'm here. One of the new guardians had a vision that a village was terrorized. They think they stopped it, but I wanted to be sure."

"Nope, everything is fine. Who would terrorize us, a new bad guy?" Elyon asked, getting up and looking out of her window. She felt as though her kingdom had gone through enough troubles, she didn't want anymore.

"Two, and one's a girl." Cornelia answered, walking behind her friend and patting her shoulder. "But don't worry. They don't seem like the type to take over a world. The new guardians can control it."

"Is that pride I hear?" Elyon asked, turning and looking at Cornelia with a smile. "Is my Corny proud of a new guardian?"

Cornelia scoffed. "Hardly."

* * *

><p><em><span>Will and Irma's House<span>_

Hannah sat on the couch, her face in her hands. She couldn't believe that she hadn't recognized sooner that she was… Hannah shuddered again. The looks on her friends faces… Although one thing did make her smile slightly, the blush that spread over Brianna's face.

But still, Hannah shuddered. That wasn't her brightest moment. Brianna walked into the room and handed Hannah her tea. Then Brianna sat in a chair next to the couch. "Stop shuddering. It was just us. It's not like you did that in front of the whole school or something."

"I know, I know." Hannah muttered. She sat back and sighed. Part of her wished that her friends were still here. They had to go home, and Will had to go to work. Irma was working a double shift, leaving Hannah and Brianna home alone for a few hours. While Hannah wasn't complaining, she kind of wanted her friends her. Their banter could distract her from her thoughts.

Brianna sighed and shook her head. She sat her tea on the coffee table, then grabbed Hannah's cup from her hands and set it down beside hers. "If you don't smile…" Brianna began, looking completely serious. "I'll just have to…." Brianna suddenly jumped on top of the shorter girl and started tickling her. "Tickle you!"

Hannah laughed uncontrollably. She couldn't get Brianna to stop though. Maybe she could, on a normal day, but today Hannah was still feeling weak. After getting her new power, she was worn out and completely tired. Finally, after minutes of being tickled, Hannah grabbed Brianna's hands. Hannah pushed her hands away from herself and on opposite sides of her. She hadn't realized what that did until she had done it. Now, Brianna lay on top of her, hands on either side of her, supporting her own body weight. Looking into Brianna's eyes, Hannah's breath caught.

"I'm sorry…" Brianna apologized, but she hadn't moved yet. Instead, her eyes traced Hannah's lips slowly. Both of them were breathing hard, and neither of them would move.

"I can't…" Hannah sighed, yet she didn't move either.

"Why not?" Brianna asked. The last thing she wanted to do was move, and she was going to try her hardest to stay in this moment.

Hannah felt this way too, and that meant that she also felt as if her feelings were betraying her. She wouldn't-no, she couldn't fall in love again. "Last time… I fell… in love…" She almost couldn't get the words out. "It almost killed me… I can't go through that again…" Even as Hannah said this, she could feel the pain. However, she also felt how Brianna took away the pain, how Brianna made her forget…

"Hannah…" Brianna's voice was soft, a step away from being a whisper. "We're friends, teammates even. I didn't let you fall Thursday, and I'm not planning on letting you fall again. I'll always be there for you, I promise. I'll always do my best to keep my fearless leader away from harm." This made the both of them smile. "No matter how much she tries to run towards it." Brianna leaned down while she said this and rubbed their noses together. Hannah's smile grew. She closed her eyes then closed the gap between their lips, accepting that now she couldn't turn back. Her life had already changed a lot, and they were all starting to accept that it might not stop changing. They could deal with it though, as long as they were together.

* * *

><p>Payden had to clear her head. So much had happened in what had seemed like such a short period of time. Her life was changed, really changed. It had changed some much that it was now past the point of being able to go back to normal. On top of it, she had no control over her life anymore. She had no choice but to go along with it, and she hated herself for not resisting.<p>

While she didn't like what was going on, she did enjoy her newly found connection with the earth. It seemed as if all the plants would grow a little when she was near them.

Because of all this, she was walking in the Heatherfield Park. It was a good day and she was most definitely not the only person in the park. She had seen a great number of happy couples, you and old. She had recognized some of them, and others were complete strangers.

Eventually Payden had strayed from the path and was now walking in a part of the park with a lot of trees.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Leaves started flying around Payden and she felt as if she were shrinking. As quickly as it had started, it was ending. The leaves were falling back to the ground, the earth became still again.

Payden wondered if she was the only one effected. Instantly, she knew that others were effected too. She heard little kids crying because the fell off their swings. She heard the reassurances that men were giving women. She could hear the alarms of the police and ambulances that were heading towards her.

Payden suddenly became confused. How could she hear all of this? At that moment, she noticed how the trees had grown, how much closer she was to the ground. She looked over her shoulder and gasped, her eyes widening. She had a tail! She had fur!

_'Guys…'_ Payden thought, broadcasting it so her friends could hear.

* * *

><p><em><span>A few minutes earlier…<span>_

Autumn was thinking and mindlessly walking. Shaking her head, she began to realize where she was. She was behind their town's Sonic. It wasn't busy, thank the lord, or else she would've gotten hit by a car. She sat against the brick wall, and went back to thinking. She had been wondering why Payden was so upset with what was going on. Autumn was happy. She could make a change, do something good. On top of it, she got to the bottom of why she had new powers.

Autumn sighed and looked up at the sun. She smiled, noticing how she didn't have to blink when she looked up at the sun anymore. Suddenly, its heat began to intensify. Autumn gasped and looked around her, finding herself suddenly in a circle of fire. Her thoughts ran, and she instantly realized what was going on. It seemed as if Hannah wasn't the only one with that new power…

Once the fire had calmed down, Autumn ran. She stopped only when she was surrounded in greenery. She then looked down at her paws and over her shoulder, wagging her tail. She was right.

Suddenly, she heard Payden's voice in her mind. _'Guys…'_

_'I know…' _Autumn replied, _'It happened to me too…'_

_ 'Payden, did you cause the earthquake?'_ Madeline asked. _'Are you okay?'_

_ 'She's fine.' _Autumn answered for Payden. _'Remember what happened with Hannah?'_

Madeline gasped. _'You two are panthers?'_

Autumn laughed and Payden replied, _'Nope. I'm a wolf.'_

_ 'I think I'm a fox. Oh, yeah I accidentally set the Sonic on fire….' _That was Autumn.

_'So our powers go crazy when we change…' _Payden said, now lost in her own thoughts.

_'Hannah, Brianna, are you two hearing any of this?' _Madeline asked.

_'Huh?'_

_ 'What's up?' _Hannah asked. Both she and Brianna sounded groggy, as if their minds were on a different planet.

_'What were you guys doing?' _Payden asked, suspicious.

_'Nothing. What's going on?' _Hannah was now in her leader position.

_'Payden caused an earthquake and Autumn set Sonic on fire.' _Madeline answered, acting as if it were something thing that happened every day.

_'Hey!' _That was Payden

_'Aww…. I really like Sonic…' _Brianna said, upset.

_'What did you guys do?' _Hannah asked, concerned.

_ 'Apparently, you aren't the only one who got that new power…'_

* * *

><p><em><em>**Author's note:** I would've made this at least a little longer, but I got stuck for ideas so I decided to go ahead and post it. I hope you enjoy. Please review! 

Oh, and I'm going to try to give the chapters titles from now on. Emphasis on try...

**Phantom**


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own W.I.T.C.H. I do however own my characters and my plot line.**

**Author's** **note**: What the crap? This coloring is weird... Anyways, I'm back! Sorry guys, I need some new inspiration, and I found it! So here's a shout out to them, the _real_ new guardians. I love you guys!

* * *

><p><strong>The New Guardians<strong>

**Chapter Nine**

**New Powers, Part Two**

Irma and Will sat together on the love seat, holding hands. Lying across their laps was Hannah, and at their feet Brianna and Madeline. Autumn sat on the couch with Taranee and Hay Lin. Autumn was engrossed in a conversation that made sense to only the two of them, so Hay Lin was off in her own little world, which was no surprise. Finally, Cornelia walked into the room, carrying her coffee. Will sighed in relief. She wanted to find out what the new guardians wanted to tell them so bad.

Cornelia yawned as she sat in the seat at the bar. She took a sip of her carefully made coffee, and then looked around the room. "So, what's up?" She asked, wanting to get out of here. She could go for a nap.

"The bigger question is why you are so tired?" Hay Lin asked back. She had noticed the bags under Cornelia's eyes and how grouchy she had been. "Extra shifts at the campground?"

"Yeah. Some camper went missing a while ago. We've been up day and night endlessly searching for him and protecting the others. Anyways, what's up?" When Cornelia asked the last question, she stared pointedly at Hannah. She wanted to nap and she didn't like talking about how she had messed up at her job.

Hannah was a little confused, but decided against pressing the subject. She had learned quickly to not go into a subject that Cornelia had declared closed. "Well, it seems like with the new element that I got, I got new powers."

"Seems about right. That's how it's supposed to be, right?" Taranee said, wondering where this was going.

"Yeah, that's what we thought." Autumn replied. "But then, things got a little weird."

"See, Hannah got this new power to change into a panther." Brianna added. When this got a collective gasp from W.I.T.C.H., she smiled.

"But she's not the only one who could shape shift." Madeline jumped in. "Autumn and Payden did too."

"Then I guess you two are next." Taranee said, looking at Brianna and Madeline.

"Oh. I wonder if I'll be like a lion or something." Brianna half-joked. She did want to be something mighty or tough. She wanted a fighting chance for whatever was coming their way. The joking part of her wondering comment did make the people in the room smile.

"So is that why the earthquake happened?" Cornelia asked. She had volunteered to help with it, and she knew that the scientists had no idea how it had started.

"Yup. It's also how Sonic got set on fire." Payden answered. Brianna frowned at Autumn, still upset over Sonic being closed.

"Wait, _you_ set Sonic on fire?" Hay Lin asked her eyes going wide as she looked at Autumn.

"Erm…" Autumn mumbled, lowering her head.

Irma glared slightly at the new fire guardian then threw a couch pillow at her. "Bad."

This caused the group to start laughing. Suddenly, Taranee's eyebrows crunched together as she figured something out. "So, before you shifter-transformed-whatever, your elements went wild? As in, you couldn't control them?" The group of new guardians nodded. "And you left destruction in your path…"

"I think what she's getting to is that you two shouldn't be in here." Will said, looking at Brianna and Madeline. Madeline frowned a little and nodded, getting up and dragging Brianna by the hand after her.

"Good job…" Hay Lin spoke under her breath, but still everyone could hear it. She hated making people upset.

"They understand. And they would have felt worse if they had done something to your house." Autumn said, getting up. With that, she followed her friends. Payden soon followed

Hannah got up slowly, not wanting to disturb her parents and not wanting to push her new found healthiness. "Wait." Will said suddenly grabbing her arm. On Hannah's hand was Irma's class ring, a blue stone set in it. "I thought you had mine." Will asked. She was now worried, where did her class ring go?

At this point, Hannah noticed the others leave and go into the kitchen, hoping to give the reunited family some space. "Oh yeah. Austin wanted to trade." The rings were on of the few things they had of their parents, and they almost always wore them. Either on a necklace, or on their fingers. "He… He thought Will was our dad… So he wanted the manly one… Although he could never understand why you chose pink as your color." The last part she had to stifle a laugh to say.

"Our elements." Irma explained with a smile. "There's something special about our rings too…"

At Hannah's confused look, Will explained. "We made them into talismans. They can open folds and they are also slightly connected to the aurameres. Each ring can transform one guardian, like if they are separated from the Keeper of the Heart."

"Cool!" Suddenly, Hannah paused and a serious look crossed her face. "Are you telling me this now because my powers have reached their full potential?" She sounded like Hay Lin, all those years ago.

Will and Irma laughed. "No, I just saw it on your hand." Will answered, a huge smile on her face.

"Darn…" Then she leaned in and whispered, "By the way, your friends left when I told you why I had a different ring." With that, she winked and walked out of the house, joining her friends in the backyard.

Will and Irma looked at each other, slightly shocked. They hadn't noticed their friends leaving. "She's good…" Irma said, still smiling. "You guys can come in here now!"

"Are you sure it's safe?" Hay Lin joked, looking into the room as Taranee and Cornelia walked in.

"Hmm…" Will thought, smiling mischievously.

"Nope!" Irma laughed, instantly moving to where she was now sitting on Will's lap. She kissed her wife quickly, laughing still.

"H… Why'd you have to say that?" Cornelia asked, shaking her head and smiling at her friends.

W.I.T.C.H. laughed; glad to still be friends through all that had happened to them.

* * *

><p><em><span>In the backyard…<span>_

"You know you don't have to drag me…" Brianna said, shaking off Madeline's grip. "I am intelligent enough to understand why we ought to be outside."

"Sorry. I just didn't want you waiting on Hannah." Madeline apologized honestly.

"That does sound like something you'd do." Autumn joked, walking into the backyard. She winked at Brianna, showing that she knew her and Hannah's little secret. Brianna's eyes went wide, but she quickly relaxed, realizing that Autumn would wait until they were ready.

A minute later, Hannah walked out, staring down and smiling at her ring. Unsurprisingly, she tripped. Brianna caught her, laughing. "Having problems?"

Hannah blushed and nodded, looking into Brianna's eyes. Brianna was shaking with laughter and they both had smiles on their faces. Autumn and Payden were laughing at Hannah tripping, but they didn't miss what was going on between their friends. "Aw, so cute." Payden joked, using her powers to lightly flicking a rock at them to snap them out of it.

Brianna stuck her tongue out at Payden and Hannah settled herself on her own feet. Brianna started to joke with Payden, Hannah and Autumn. But Madeline wasn't listening to her friends' banter. She was lost in thought. Madeline couldn't help but relive the moment between her and Ash. She couldn't help but stay lost in his eyes, and she felt peaceful there. Unknown to her, she began float.

Brianna laughed, seeing Madeline floating. The other guardians joined in with the laughter. Autumn's laughter slowly started to die down as she became focused on Madeline's thoughts.

That's when thing began happening quickly.

Autumn gasped, hearing her friend's thoughts. Brianna, Payden, and Hannah looked at Autumn confused. Before Autumn could speak and explain, Madeline's eyes shot open, realization in them. She knew that her friend had heard what she had been thinking about, and she knew that she was in trouble.

Before Madeline could lower herself to the ground, the wind picked up. It swirled viciously in the backyard, only not affecting Madeline. The others hit the ground, shaken. As fast as it had begun, it was over, just like the others.

Madeline was on the ground, and man had things changed. Everything was bigger. She flapped her wings, not shocked that she was a bird. She looked around the yard while her friends sat up. Brianna winced, pulling leaves out of her hair. "Damn Madeline. I think you hurt more people than Pay-Pay did."

Hannah looked around at her friends, shaking her hair back into place. Payden glared at Brianna and Hannah, then started to try to fix her messed up hair. Autumn got up first, and glared at Madeline. "Everyone okay?" Hannah asked, not noticing Autumn's glare.

Madeline looked into Autumn's eyes, got scared, and flew off. "Hannah, change us! I need to go after her!"

"As soon as you explain what's going on." Hannah said, getting up, then helping Brianna get up.

"That's what I want to know." Autumn glared at the sky where Madeline flew off.

"Okay, that made no sense." Brianna said.

"Guardians unite." Hannah's voice was sour, her eyes questioning Autumn. As soon as she was transformed, Autumn flew off after her friend.

"I'll tell you one thing." Payden said, getting up and making Hannah and Brianna look at her. "I'm not at all surprised Madeline is a white dove, bird of peace."

Brianna faked a gasp. "You actually know something?"

Payden glared at her and stepped forward, raising her hand. "Stop it, both of you." Hannah was in leader mode now as she stepped between them.

Payden bit back a harsh remark, and instead asked, "Well, are we going after them?"

"No." Hannah said after a minute. "Let's give them a chance to talk to each other first."

If birds could sigh, Madeline would. She had finally lost Autumn. Madeline landed on a branch and wondered how she would get some clothes. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she was flying, and it was not on her own accord. "You really thought you lost me?" Autumn's voice rang out through the air as she hit the ground. Autumn had made sure to catch her a specific way as to not hurt her friend, and she knew she had succeeded.

Autumn's back was on the ground, and she repositioned Madeline to where they could look at each other. _'How'd you get me?' _Madeline asked, confused.

"I pretended to fall behind, and then I tracked you using your thoughts. It wasn't hard." Autumn answered. "Now, explain."

_'I have no idea what you're talking about'_ Madeline said. Of course, she actually did, but she tried to shut out those thoughts. The look on Autumn's face showed that she had heard, and both of them knew she wasn't going to drop it. _'Fine… I just can't stop thinking about what happened. Is it my fault I can't control my thoughts and feelings?'_

"No." Autumn agreed. "But you can control your actions. I know you've thought about him a lot, and I'm worried that you might choose him over us."

_'I would never do that. You're my friends.' _Madeline replied. _'He's some guy that stole one of my new friends. I don't even know him! How could you think I would do that?'_

Autumn sat up and realized Madeline. She fluffed her wings, and when Autumn held out a finger for her to land on she landed on it. "You're right… I'm sorry. I just… really hate him…"

_ 'It's okay.' _

"I'm going to call the others to meet us up here." Autumn said, then closed her eyes for a second. Once she was done she opened her eyes. "… If you don't want me to, I won't bring any of this up."

_'I'd really prefer if you didn't…'_

"Okay." After a minute, Autumn got up and looked up to the sky, a second before Payden, Brianna, and Hannah showed up. They all landed and looked at the two. "Hannah, I think Madeline will be… clothed… if you switch her right after…" Hannah nodded, looking in between the two of them.

Walking by them, Hannah said, "Come on, birdy." Madeline flew off Autumn's finger and onto Hannah's shoulder.

"So what's going on?" Brianna asked, watching Hannah's retreating figure.

"It was just a misunderstanding." Autumn wouldn't meet her friends' eyes though.

"You're a horrible liar." Payden said dryly.

"You're right about that…" Autumn muttered, then looked up and started to speak clearly. "Look, I thought I heard something…bad… in Madeline's thoughts. But she cleared it up. I'm just a worrywart."

"Guardian unite." Hannah said, holding up the heart once her friend had changed back into her human form. Hannah was very grateful that Madeline had flown behind a tree to do so.

Madeline smiled a little looking at her friend. "Thanks." As they walked towards their friends, Hannah was watching Madeline. She looked sad, and consumed in her own thoughts.

'_Autumn sees this as a betrayal… I really don't want the others to think the same…' _Madeline thought, biting her lip. "Oh crap…" Madeline said suddenly, looking at Hannah as they walked through the trees, arriving upon their friends. "Won't your parents get worried when they look outside and we aren't there?"

Hannah laughed. "Probably, but I'm spending the night with them one more time. So, I'll explain when I get there." She had this smile on her face, like she was hiding something.

This got a raised eyebrow from Brianna and Autumn laughed. "C'mon Shorty, just tell them."

Hannah stuck her tongue out at Autumn, and then explained. "They said it was okay to have a slumber party."

"Cool!" Madeline said, smiling.

"I'll have to ask my parents, but sure." Payden spoke up, leaning against a tree.

Brianna smiled at Hannah, her eyes sparkling slightly, when suddenly rain began falling heavily. Brianna blinked, seeing Hannah look at her with wide eyes, before a wall of water began circling her. "Ah!" The other guardians screamed, struggling to keep their footing in the harsh barricade of water that was falling.

They sighed in relief as the rain stopped and the water calmed. Payden groaned. "Brianna! I'm soaking…wet…" Payden's sentence broke up because she could contain her laughter as she looked up to complain at the water guardian.

The others shook with laughter and Hannah walked up to Brianna. _'What're you laughing at?'_

"Um… Darling. You're a ferret" Hannah said, trying to hold back her laughter. She picked her up and turned to face the group.

_'HEY! Stop laughing…' _Brianna muttered, climbing up Hannah's arm and shoulder then hiding behind her head.

"Darling?" Madeline asked, a smile on her face.

"Yup." Hannah said proudly, trying not to move her head. Brianna peeked up from the top of her head and looked around at their friends' reactions. "We're together."

"Finally." Payden scoffed, smiling at them and trying to calm down her laughter.

Brianna stuck her tongue out at Payden, causing them to burst out into laughter again. They couldn't help it, it was just funny the way Brianna looked, her front paws on Hannah's head, her tongue sticking out. _'Meanies.' _Brianna complained.

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian<span>_

Valkyrie was sitting in a tree, looking around. She ran a hand through her bangs as her eyes scanned the ground. _'This place look likes…'_ Just like that, she was in a flashback.

_"Come on guys! Let me go with you!" I said for the fifth time. "I can help!"_

_ "Val…" Halinor sighed, looking at me._

_ "Why not?" Yan Lin asked, looking at the others._

_ "Oh gee, I don't know. Maybe because she could get hurt!" Kadma practically yelled the last part, making Yan Lin and I flinch._

_ "Kadie, knock it off." Cassidy said. "I don't see a problem with this, let her come." Once she was finished saying this, she turned and smiled at me._

_ Nerissa visibly bit her lip in thought. After a few anxious minutes, she finally spoke. "Fine, fine." When Kadma and Halinor opened their mouths to complain, Nerissa spoke again, "You have to do whatever we say, okay?" It took me a moment to realize that this was directed at me._

_ I nodded eagerly. "Of course."_

_ Kadma glared at Nerissa, and Halinor looked at me worriedly. Yan Lin and Cassidy shared excited smiles, causing me to smile with them. Nerissa shook her head and turned her back on us. I gulped, I had noticed her changing… And it worried me. But I kept my thoughts to myself. Last thing I wanted to do was start something over what might be nothing. "Guardians unite." Nerissa said, holding the heart in both of her hands. _

Hissing, Valkyrie shook her head, shutting her eyes in frustration. "I have got to stop doing that!"

_'Aw why? I was having fun reliving old times.' _

Valkyrie's eyes shot open and she sat up in shock, almost falling of the branch. _'Ne…..Nerissa?'_

* * *

><p><em><em>**Author's note:**Ahah! The color's back :P Up at the top, it seems grey to me... Anyways, so I made a story cover to go along with the story. Sorry you can barely see it :/ I'll try to find some way to fix it.

So, some people might think me evil for leaving a cliff hanger, but I dunno. I don't really think that this is much of a cliff hanger. Oh well.

I hope you enjoyed it. Please, review. I probably made a mistake, or maybe I left someone out. If you don't tell me, I'll never know. Or, if you think I did a good job, hearing that really makes me freakin' happy and it helps inspire me which means... I update faster!

See ya next time

**-Phantom**


	10. Chapter 10

**The New Guardians**

**Chapter Ten**

**Same Enemy, Different Plan – Part One**

Valkyrie jumped down from the tree branch and leaned against the trunk. She closed her eyes and focused on her old friend's faded mental voice. _'How much of that did you hear?'_ She asked, keeping her 'voice' light. She didn't like it when someone invaded her thoughts, but she wouldn't let Nerissa know that.

_'I caught all of that.' _Nerissa said. _'I always wondered if someone had noticed how I was changing… Nothing gets past you huh?' _Her 'voice' was dry when she asked that, almost daring Valkyrie to answer her wrongly.

_'I… I am very observant.' _After a second, Valkyrie sighed. She felt like she had dodged a bullet. _'What can I do for you?'_

_ 'Ah, always the same now-a-days. Right down to business. Good, good. It's time.'_

Valkyrie gulped. She had been anxious while waiting for this day to come. Part of her, a part long dead, couldn't wait to see her old friend. The other part was wary; she knew all that Nerissa desired now was power, and in her quest to get it she would waste anyone. Even an old friend… Or her girlfriend. Valkyrie shuddered, snapping herself out of those thoughts. Last thing she needed was to go back to that day. _'Okay. I'll see you soon.'_

_ 'You better.'_

* * *

><p><em><span>Earth. Irma and Will's house<span>_

"Come on, girls! We made breakfast!" Will called upstairs to the new guardians.

Irma wiped her eyes with her hands and took another drink of her coffee. "Stop yelling. It's too early to yell." She mumbled.

Will came up from behind her and hugged her, making Irma have a sleepy smile. "It's ten darling…"

"See?" Irma replied. "Too early. Way too early."

Will laughed and shook her head, letting go of her wife to take care of the food that was currently cooking.

Meanwhile, upstairs Madeline was trying to wake everybody up. She got up and gazed lazily around the room and stifled a laugh. She and Payden had decided to sleep on the futon that they had brought up while Brianna, Autumn, and Hannah had decided to sleep on the guest bed in the room. They had done it like this to prevent Hannah and Brianna from keeping them up all night while doing…private things. They had sworn they wouldn't, but still Autumn had slept in between them. Well, now Autumn lay half off the bed and Hannah was asleep in Brianna's arms. Madeline shook her head, sad that she may never know how in the world that happened. Madeline reached out and shook Payden awake.

"Wha…" Payden groaned as she got up. Madeline shushed her then pointed to the bed.

"I'll push off Autumn if you push of Hannah and Brianna." Madeline whispered, smiling. She had given Payden the bigger target because she had her powers to help. That, and Madeline just wanted to mess with Autumn herself. Payden nodded, smiling and they both climbed on the bed, stopping in the middle. "3… 2… 1…" Madeline mumbled. On one, they both pushed and screamed at the same time, "WAKE UP!"

Irma and Will looked up worriedly at the ceiling when they heard the thud. Then they looked at each other. Will shrugged and Irma laughed a little. "I'll check on them if they aren't downstairs in five minutes…"

Autumn groaned, and glared up at her friend through sleepy eyes. "I officially might hate you. I dunno, it's too early to tell." Madeline's smile grew and she laughed as she helped her friend get up.

Hannah fell to the floor, Brianna on top of her. "Guys… I might have broken the short person…" Payden said, turning to Madeline and Autumn.

Brianna opened her eyes slowly, groggy from the sleep still. Suddenly, her eyes widened, taking in that she was laying on Hannah and she might have accidentally squished her. "Hannah!" She asked, jumping up. "Are you okay?"

Hannah groaned, sitting up. "I'd feel better if I went back to sleep. Oh, yeah, and if I didn't have friends who pushed me out of bed. That might help."

Autumn and Madeline walked around the bed and took in the sight of their friends. Payden was sitting on the bed, looking down at Hannah and Brianna. Brianna sat on her knees while Hannah laid on the ground, barely sitting up. As soon as Autumn caught sight of Hannah's hair, she bit her lip to stop the laughter from coming out, but her body shook with it. "Hannah… Your hair…"

Hannah looked up worriedly, wishing suddenly that she could see the mirror on the wall. "She's right…" Brianna said. "You kind of have some decent bedhead." As she spoke, she ruffled Hannah's already messed up hair.

Payden scoffed. "Like you can talk." She was joking, Brianna's hair was only slightly messed up, nothing like Hannah's. In fact, the only two people with horrendous hair where Hannah and Autumn.

Brianna laughed, and joked, "Like _you _can talk."

"Psh, my hair's perfect." As she said this, she shook her hand through her brown hair and flipped it over her shoulder. Just like Cornelia, leaves came out of nowhere and fell from her hair. "Huh… Neat…"

Madeline stood there, laughing softly. "Come on guys, they made breakfast for us." Instantly, the group was aware of their hunger. They got up and filled out of the room, Autumn first and Hannah last.

Autumn, Madeline, and Payden practically raced down the stairs in their quest for food. Brianna almost followed, but she noticed how Hannah was staring at a picture. Brianna walked up and looked over Hannah's shoulder at the picture. The picture was of Irma hugging Will from behind. Both of them were smiling at the camera, and it looked like they almost fell over.

"We can tell them. You know they'll be fine with it." Brianna whispered into Hannah's ear, misreading her anxiety and worry. She thought that Hannah was worried about her parents accepting her.

Hannah turned her head slightly and rolled her eyes at Brianna. "That's not it." She said, sticking her tongue out at Brianna. "I was just wondering if I was ever going to have that…"

Brianna laughed and hugged Hannah, much like the picture. Then, without thinking about, she picked Hannah up and tried to swing her around. She was trying to do this in an effort to make Hannah smile, which she already was, but she had forgotten one little thing; they were on the stairs. Brianna lost her footing and sent them falling down the stairs, laughing.

They landed at the bottom, barely hurting and still laughing. Everyone rushed over and looked at them confused. "What'd you do? Get lost on the way down?" Payden asked.

"I… Just… She…" Hannah tried to explain, but she couldn't get the words out. "Never mind." She was trying to calm down as she got to her feet and helped pull up Brianna.

"Oookay then…" Will said, looking at them like they were crazy and lead everyone back into the dining room.

"Aw, Autumn. You should wear your hair like that more often." Brianna joked as she walked behind her friend. Autumn stuck her tongue out at Brianna for about half a second, then dug into her pancakes.

Will set two drinks down for Brianna and Hannah, and then everyone dug in to the pancakes. After a second, Madeline accidentally knocked her glass cup off the table. Without thinking, Hannah reached out and grabbed it before it could hit the ground. "How the crap did you do that?" Madeline asked, staring almost wide eyed at her short friend.

"Cat-like reflexes?" Brianna joked.

"Like you can talk, twitchy." Payden joked back, elbowing Brianna.

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian.<span>_

"So wait, we're doing what?" Ash asked. He had heard Valkyrie perfectly, but he thought he must have heard her wrong. "You think we should go out and attack Julian, whose son is not only a member of the Great Knights, the father of the princess."

"Yup." Valkyrie nodded, as if it were no big thing.

"Wow, little kid. Your ambitions sure have grown since last time I've seen you." Valkyrie jumped, not knowing that someone had been in the tree behind Ash.

Ash had heard their visitor, so he didn't jump at all. Instead, he sighed. "Kasper."

"Aw, you remember me." Kasper said, landing next to Ash. Kasper looked just like your average definition of a vampire. He was pale, wore long black clothing, and had menacing red eyes, with an evil look in them. "Now, of course I'd glad to help you."

"We don't need your help." Valkyrie grumbled, not liking Kasper from the start.

Kasper scoffed. "Really? I think Nerissa would disagree."

Ash shook his head as he saw Valkyrie's shocked expression. "He's probably been watching you for a while. He does that." Then he glared at Valkyrie. "This is about your stupid friend? Really?"

"She is not stupid!" Valkyrie hissed at Ash.

"Really? So all the smart people go and get themselves locked in some crystal?" He remarked dryly. "Whatever. But I'm watching my back, and my back only. Got it?"

Valkyrie glared back at Ash, but nodded. She wouldn't admit it, but she was happy to have help. Even if help was an unwilling Ash and an annoying Kasper.

* * *

><p><em><span>Later, still on Meridian <span>_

Julian hummed, walking through the forest by his house. He had grown quite old, but he was still a fighter. In fact, he was going hunting with his son, Caleb, soon. He kept one hand on his sword, but his thoughts wandered as he walked. Even with his thoughts somewhere else, he should've seen the person he ran into. He instantly knew that this person wasn't there a second before, and he knew that this person was up to no good.

"Oh good job." Kasper joked, grinning and showing his fangs. "What tipped you off? The clothes? Maybe my eyes?"

Julian pulled out his sword and glared at Kasper, keeping his other senses on the lookout for someone else. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Eh. I'm Kasper." Kasper shrugged, barely moving. "I honestly don't want anything." Suddenly, Julian's throat was being held. "But I can't say the same for my friend…"

"We're hardly friends." Valkyrie muttered. She stood behind Ash, who was now holding Julian. Kasper, moving unseeingly fast, grabbed Julian's sword from his own hands. Ash turned around, making Julian face her. "Look, it's simple. You'll go through a lot less pain if you just hand over your necklace."

Julian spit at Valkyrie. "Never." He hoped that his son had shown up early, as he often did, and yelled. "CALEB! HELP!"

"Shit." Ash hissed, dropping Julian and turning around. Caleb had heard and was now running towards them. "Hurry up."

Kasper shook his head. "Could've been a lot easier." As he said that, he threw down the sword, centimeters in front of Julian's nose. "I'll be sure to lop off your nose next time, don't worry." He grinned, picked up Julian, ripped off the necklace that was Nerissa's prison and threw it to Valkyrie. Then, he bit into Julian's neck.

"Catch up when you're done palling with your food." Valkyrie said, then ran off with Ash.

Caleb burst into the clearing. "Dad!" Kasper released Julian, then turned around and winked at Caleb. Before Caleb could move another muscle, Kasper disappeared. "Dad…" Caleb said, walking up and leaning next to his father. "I'll get you to Elyon. She'll make you better."

* * *

><p><em><span>Earth<span>_

Hannah and Will sat on the couch together, watching some random TV show. Irma and the others were off, probably up to no good, but at the moment, neither of them really cared. Timidly, Hannah spoke up. "How'd you know that mom was right for you?"

Will laughed and looked down at her daughter. "It's a funny story, how we got together. My boyfriend, Matt, had recently broken up with me. Being the dork that she is, Irma knew she had to cheer me up. At the same time, she had an annoying guy chasing after her, Martin. So, she killed two birds with one stone. She told him that she was lesbian. He asked for proof, and she said me. She told him that I was her girlfriend." Now, Will was looking up, lost in memory. "Sure enough, he ran off and told everyone else. But, I wasn't just about to sell her out. So I went along with it. We acted as if we were dating… And soon enough, it wasn't an act…

"Matt was mad… He thought I tricked him into breaking up with me just so I could date Irma…" Will shook her head, snapping out of the memory. "Anyways, I knew she was right for me by the way she made me laugh, the way she made me feel. And when we kiss, I feel… Like a special white, pure light is wrapping around us, binding us together."

Hannah gasped. She knew that feeling, heck she had just experienced that feeling yesterday, seeing how today was Sunday. Will smiled down at Hannah. "This is about Brianna, isn't it?" Seeing Hannah's shocked expression, she laughed. "I'm not blind darling."

"… It is." Hannah said. "I just wasn't sure how to tell you… We're together."

"Aw…" Irma joked, leaning against the doorframe, smiling. "Now was that so hard to say?" The rest of the new guardians were behind her, smiling.

"I guess not…"

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian. Elyon's Castle<span>_

"Elyon! Come quick!" A guard yelled, snapping Elyon out of her thoughts.

She turned to her daughter. "Stay here, okay?"

"But Mom… I want to help…"

"I'll come and get you as soon as we need your help, I promise." With that, Elyon kissed her daughter's forehead and left the room, shutting the door behind her. "What is it?" She asked, walking into the Royal Chambers where some of the guards were assembled.

Caleb looked up, a frown on his face. He was in the middle of the circle of guards, his father at his feet. Elyon rushed to his side. "What happened?"

"I don't know!" Caleb sighed in frustration. "I had just gotten there when I heard him scream. When I ran up, some guy was holding him up against a tree. The guy let him go, winked at me, then disappeared."

"Okay." Elyon said, getting up. "Guards, take him to the guest chambers. I'll be there in a second." As the guards took Julian and rushed off, Caleb frowned at Elyon. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him." Elyon spoke calmly. She lightly kissed Caleb, and then rushed off to join the guards.

* * *

><p><em><span>Elsewhere on Meridian<span>_

"You just had to bite him…" Ash mumbled, not looking at Kasper.

"Duh." Kasper said. "I couldn't just leave with an open threat. We had to show that we would do something if there was no obedience, and you guys didn't. So I had to."

"Shut up!" Valkyrie said suddenly. She had the little blue jewel in her hands, and she was immersed in it. "I'm trying to concentrate."

_'Good job, Val.'_ Nerissa spoke.

"Oh, can I call you Val too?" Kasper asked.

"Shut up." Valkyrie repeated to Kasper, then spoke to Nerissa. "What do we need to do to get you out of the jewel?"

_'Simple, get the blood and energy of the purest guardian.' _Nerissa said. Honestly, it could be any guardian. She wanted to corrupt the new guardians though, mess them up. The best way to do that was through the most innocent first.

Ash stayed completely still on the outside, as to seem calm. But on the inside, he was freaking out. The purest guardian had to be… The air guardian. He would-no he couldn't-let pain come to her.

"Oh! Can I do it?" Kasper asked, like an excited school child.

"No." Ash spoke, before he could stop himself. "I'll do it." Quickly, he thought of an excuse. "Well, they don't know that we have a new friend yet. Why tip them off?"

_'Good point.' _Nerissa agreed. _'Well? What're you waiting for? I think I've been stuck inside here for long enough!'_

* * *

><p><em><span>The Castle<span>_

Elyon sat by Julian's bed, using her powers to heal him. "He's about to wake up." She muttered to Caleb.

Caleb sat forward in anticipation. Julian opened his eyes and looked around the room, his eyes stopping on Elyon. He grasped her arm. "Father? Are you okay?" Caleb asked, glancing down at his father's hand holding Elyon's arm.

"Yeah. I am. For now…" Julian rushed through his words. "Elyon. They took her, they took Nerissa…"

Elyon's eyes widened and she nodded. "Then I have to go to Kandrakar. Thank you, Julian."

* * *

><p><em><span>Earth<span>_

"Sure! I'll wait for you guys back here, okay?" Madeline said, walking out the back door. She sighed, smiling. She had always loved the outdoors, but ever since becoming a guardian, the feeling was intensified.

Suddenly, she felt a strong hand wrap around her mouth. "Come with me quietly, and I won't hurt any of your friends." Ash spoke quietly in her ear, and she nodded. He let her go, and walked in the forest, waiting for her to follow. Madeline gave the house one last fleeting look, and then followed her enemy into the forest.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> I'm really sorry for the late update. Please don't kill me!

So, sadly, this chapter didn't have much of the guardians. It was a tad Meridian-centered. Oh well, I think it's a good chapter. I'm currently working on the eleventh chapter. It'll be up sometime in the next two weeks.

Also, shout out to my friend, Maddie-cakes! You've inspired me lately, so I must thank you for this. I upload this in honor of you. *overly dramatic bow*

**-Phantom**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's** note: I don't own W.I.T.C.H. I do, however own my characters, the band title, and the plot.

* * *

><p><strong>The New Guardians<strong>

**Chapter Eleven**

**Same Enemy, Different Plan – Part Two**

Madeline watched Ash's back, silent. She wondered where they were going and why, but she figured if she asked that he wouldn't answer. Finally, after about ten minutes, he stopped and turned around. "What do you want?" Madeline asked, looking up at him.

Ash felt her looking at him, but he wouldn't match her gaze. He felt horrible for what he was about to do. In fact, he wanted to just run away and protect her from this. "I'm sorry…"

"For what?" Madeline was confused, he hadn't done anything. "For not kidnapping me, kicking and screaming? Because that was just horribly mean." She said her voice heavy with sarcasm.

Ash laughed dryly. "I'd figure I'd try to be nice before I ruined your opinion of me." He paused, closing your eyes. "I need to hurry." He muttered to himself, and then spoke to where Madeline could hear. "Your friends are about to start looking for you."

"Well, yeah, ninny." Madeline said. "That's not exactly hard to figure out."

* * *

><p><em><span>At Will's and Irma's house<span>_

"Maddie?" Autumn asked, walking out the back door. "You okay? You've been out here for…" Her voice died down as she looked around the yard. "Guys!"

Will, Irma, Payden, Brianna, and Hannah soon rushed into the backyard. "What's wrong?" Will asked.

"Madeline was just out here." Autumn frowned, turning the look at everyone.

"Maybe she just decided to wander off into the forest." Irma said. It was true, they had decided when they had made the house to not have a fence around the yard. They'd rather have a small open area going straight into the forest. It was good and it let them practice.

"Why don't we be safe and check?" Hannah said softly, holding up the Heart. "Guardians unite!"

"Water!"

"Light and dark!"

"Fire!"

"Earth!"

They landed, now in their guardian forms. "Dude, that's cool!" Brianna said, looking at Hannah.

"What?" Hannah asked, looking at Brianna confused. She then looked down, and saw what she was talking about. Now her white shirt and white shoes were black. Her hair had also changed. Now streaks of white and black ran through it. "Huh, cool."

"Yes, awesome. Now, could we focus?" Autumn sounded pissed. She turned to the forest and closed her eyes, trying to focus on where Madeline went.

"Sorry…" Hannah muttered, turning and walking up to Autumn. "Where is she?"

"Sh." Autumn shushed Hannah. After a few minutes, her eyes snapped open, worry evident in them. "We have to go. Now!" With that, she flew into the forest.

* * *

><p><em><span>Meanwhile…<span>_

Ash walked up to Madeline, causing her to stumble back into a tree. He put an arm over her shoulder and leaned in, as if to kiss her. "I really am sorry for what I'm about to do. You may not believe me, but I am protecting you." Then he leaned down farther and bit her neck.

Madeline gasped, out of shock, not pain. Vampires have a choice; they can make a bite pleasurable or painful. In Hannah's case, Valkyrie wanted her to suffer, therefore the bite was painful. Ash was trying his hardest to keep her safe-even if neither of them new why-therefore, his bite wasn't painful. In fact, Madeline almost enjoyed it. She was close to him, his body inches from hers. If he weren't a stranger who had kidnapped her friend and was now drinking her blood for what seemed to be his personal gain, she would enjoy the closeness.

After about two minutes, Ash pulled back. "That will heal fast, don't worry."

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry, that's perfect advice for you to give me in this situation." Madeline said, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

"If only you knew that I was doing you a favor." Ash muttered, almost too low for Madeline to hear it. Even though he had stopped drinking, he hadn't moved. Madeline was too aware of this fact. She studied his face, trying to ignore the fact that his lips seemed redder, his face seemed alight. She had guessed that this was because of her blood, and she was right.

Ash couldn't help studying her either. _'Never in all of my existence have I met someone so free… And someone so beautiful.' _His thoughts only intensified his feelings. The space in between them was driving him crazy. Suddenly, as if he couldn't control his urges-no, his needs-he leaned in and kissed Madeline.

Madeline's breath hitched; she was shocked. She certainly hadn't been expecting that. Part of her hated the kiss. She had been hoping that he hadn't felt the connection that she had. She didn't want this confusion; she didn't want to feel as if she were betraying her friends. Most of all, she didn't want to fall for a stranger-especially this one.

Another part of her, the bigger part, rejoiced. She couldn't help but enjoy it; she couldn't help but to lean in, to trying and memorize the feeling. She put her palms against his chest, but hadn't broken of the kiss yet.

Suddenly, Ash broke the kiss off and leaned away from Madeline. Just in time, because Autumn crashed through the bushes, the other guardians right behind her.

Ash looked terrified at Madeline as she fell to the ground. Sadly for her, she was weakened from the blood loss and her lack of oxygen. Madeline matched his gaze, her gaze stunned. Without looking up as Autumn rushed him, fire in her hands, Ash disappeared.

"Damn it!" Autumn yelled clenching her fists in anger, thereby causing some sparks of fire to fall harmlessly onto the ground. Her rage had caused flames to flicker in her eyes. "He got away!"

Hannah leaned down and grabbed Madeline's arm. "Somehow I don't doubt that we'll see him again." She said, looking up at Autumn.

Payden walked over and patted Autumn's shoulder. "It's okay."

Brianna looked at Madeline over Hannah's shoulder. "You okay?"

Madeline was dazed, her thoughts elsewhere. She could still feel Ash's lips on hers, and she found herself not wanting the feeling to go away. She was snapped back into reality by Brianna's question though. "Oh, of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"

Autumn looked at the air head who was her best friend, her face covered in confusion. "He bit you. Your neck has blood on it. We walked up and you fell to the ground. That's why you wouldn't be." Her voice was dry.

"Oh! Oh… Yeah. I'm not okay." Madeline said, shaking her head as if to prove her point. She put her hand up to her neck and sure enough, it was a little wet with her blood. "But I'll be fine."

"Yeah, I'm proof of that." Hannah pointed out, eyeing Autumn. Something was off with her, but Hannah couldn't place it.

"Well, then we should back to the house to clean up your neck." Brianna said, slightly oblivious to what was going on between her friends.

"Yeah." Payden agreed. Brianna looked up, arching her eyebrow in playful confusion.

"Is Pay-Pay agreeing with me?" Brianna joked.

"Shocker." Payden muttered, smiling.

"Actually it is." Madeline said, smiling also.

The fire in Autumn's eyes started to die out because of her friends' banter. "Come on. Let's go." Payden said to Autumn, smiling.

Autumn nodded, turning around and leaning down to Madeline. "We're going to talk later. You know why." She whispered in Madeline's ear.

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian<span>_

"Wow, you sure as hell took a while." Kasper remarked dryly. Ash glared at him as he walked into the small meadow that the vampires had settled into.

"What do we do now?" Valkyrie asked, looking into the blue jewel that was Nerissa's prison.

_'It's simple. Give the jewel to Ash. I'll instruct him on what to do.'_ Nerissa's mental voice was filled with excitement. Finally, she was about to be free.

* * *

><p><em><span>Earth. Will and Irma's backyard<span>_

Will and Irma sat in their lawn chairs, anxiously waiting. The guardians landed Brianna and Payden rather gracefully. Sadly, Hannah wasn't that well at flying and Autumn was currently holding Madeline-even though she argued that she was fine enough to fly.

"Good, you're back." Will tried to speak calmly, as if they hadn't been worried. It didn't exactly work.

"Yeah. And we're fine." Hannah said, trying to calm her mother down.

"Except for Madeline." Autumn cut in, almost glaring at Hannah for leaving that out.

"I already told you!" Madeline sighed in frustration and flew out of Autumn's grip. "I'm fine!" She landed on the ground, and then the blood loss got to her as she began to fall over.

Payden caught her. "Whatever you say." Payden said, rolling her eyes at her friend.

"What happened?" Irma asked.

"Ash told me to follow him… He said if I didn't… He'd hurt you; all of you. I didn't want that to happen." Madeline began, looking down.

"Then he bit her." Brianna said, her voice serous.

"He got away." Autumn growled, her fists clenching again. Flames showed in her eyes again and fire began to form around her hands and her arms.

Hannah glanced at Brianna. Bri caught this and nodded. She then looked at Autumn and flicked her hand towards her angered friend. Irma's drink flew out of her cup and put out the fire accumulating on Autumn's arms. "Calm down." Hannah said. Autumn looked up to glare at Brianna first, then stopped and glared at Hannah.

"Hey!" Irma said suddenly. "I was drinking that…." This she muttered, looking down.

"Hannah's right. You do need to be calm." Will looked between the fire guardian and her daughter. Her gaze settled on Autumn. "Your rage won't help you. Taranee will help you with that… Anyways, we should get Madeline to Kandrakar. They can speed up her healing process." Hannah nodded, holding up the Heart to make a portal.

* * *

><p><em><span>Kandrakar<span>_

"What's going on?" Autumn asked, looking around the bright and open room. The other's shared her confused looks. Payden was holding up Madeline, who was very stubbornly determined to not be babied.

The Oracle spoke first, like usual. "This is the Queen of Meridian, Elyon." With that, Elyon had the floor.

"It is nice to meet you new guardians." Elyon said, smiling lightly at them. She gestured to her group. "This is my Knight, Caleb." Caleb bowed his head respectively, and glad that Elyon hadn't called him king. He didn't like the title. "His father, Juilian." Juilian also bowed his head respectively, almost as if to back up the fact that he and Caleb were related. "Sadly, we are not her to simply introduce ourselves. We bring bad news."

"There are now three vampires." Juilian said, glad that the Oracle had caught them up on the subject of the new enemies that had arisen. "They attacked me."

Will gasped, her eyes widening. Irma eyed Juilian nervously. "They didn't…"

Juilian broke their gaze, looking away in shame and regret. The Oracle chose this time to speak up. "They did. It seems as if they are going to use the air guardian's blood and energy to further achieve their goals." He looked up at them. "I fear that Nerissa is going to be free soon."

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian<span>_

"Finally." Nerissa spoke. She had almost forgotten all the things she was feeling; how it was to speak, what her voice sounded like, the feeling of standing in her true body, surrounded by people. She was now longer trapped. She was-"Free!" Nerissa yelled. "I am free!" She through her arms out lightning flowing out of her fingertips and striking nearby trees. The rest of the vampires looked at her, calmly.

Valkyrie walked up to her as soon as the lightning died out. "You don't look as if you've aged a day."

Nerissa smiled. "Of course. I used my powers to get my guardian body back, and my powers have kept it." She looked down; admiring the deep blue dress she was in. She even flapped her wings for a second. She looked over her shoulder at Valkyrie, making her long dark hair move. "Val, you haven't aged either." Valkyrie almost grimaced, but hid it. "It's finally the time. The time for W.I.T.C.H. to pay."

"That's not going to be easy." Ash said dryly. So far, he didn't like Nerissa.

"You say this because of the new guardians?" Nerissa asked, looking at him. When he nodded, she continued. "Well then, we'll just have to make them suffer first."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Author's note:<span>** This felt really rushed. I also felt like the ending was horrible xP

So, I have lost of stuff to say, hopefully I can remember it all! **FIVE IS VERY IMPORTANT!**

1) So some background characters are about to really come into their light, and finally be main characters. Which is good, cause I love writing for Austin, and I hate how little of him I've put. Now, why he is a main character is a secret ;)

2) I'm mixing up the comics and the cartoon. See, I like the way the cartoon did the plot, but I hated how Nerissa looked 'young' in the cartoon. She looked hideous. In the comics, she has the awesome darker blue dress highly simply to the god awful pink one, but way better. Anyways, the story's are kind of twisted, but don't worry about it. Hopefully it won't be confusing. For instance, you may have noticed the Oracle is still Himmerish. I love the new one(not spoiling, no names mentioned), but I can't change this story's plot because a new comic came out. But anyways, if you think I got something wrong, pm me or review about it, and I'll explain if it was a mixer between the comics and cartoons or I made a mistake. I know I made a mistake earlier in this story. I put protal, but there aren't any portals around. Oops!

3) So I've really been thinking about it, and I think this should be put to a vote, deciding on your reviews. I have the plot lined out, but I can change it slightly to add some of the canon characters, like Matt, Chris, Napoleon, so on. I wouldn't mind it, in fact I kind of want to, to show a little to what's happened to the W.I.T.C.H. girls since this is way later. I am really glad I got to show you(kind of) how Will and Irma got together. So, what do you think?

4)30 Seconds To Mars inspired me to write more so lately. Mainly the song, This Is War. Also, my friends have inspired me. THANK YOU GUYS!

5) _**(PLEASE READ!)**_ I've decided to me almost mean. Almost... I have chapter twelve written already, and Thirteen is well on it's way. Now, the time I update this story now depends on_ YOU_! Readers, _YOU_ decide when I update! See, if I get **NO** reviews, I'll update it two weeks from now, on the 13th. If I get **ONE** review, I will upload this next Friday, the sixth of July. If I get** FIVE OR MORE** reviews, I will upload it **THAT FREAKIN DAY**! As soon as I see that I've gotten five more reviews, I will upload, that day if possible. And it should be possible, believe me. SO PLEASE! You decide my readers, decide well! These reviews can be asking me questions about the story, answering my questions, telling me how much I suck, or how much you enjoy something. If they have something to do with the story, or my really freakin long author's note, I will accept it.

6) Oh yeah! So, my friend has done fanart for this story. It is awesome, no doubt, I just haven't asked her to put it on DA, or Photobucket or something, because I'm not sure how many people will go check it out. So, if you want to see it, tell me!

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, cause I sure did!

**-Phantom**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note:** I only own my plot, ideas, characters, and the band name.

* * *

><p><strong>The New Guardians<strong>

**Chapter Twelve**

**The Sinister Plan**

"It's finally the time. The time for W.I.T.C.H. to pay."

"That's not going to be easy." Ash said dryly. So far, he didn't like Nerissa.

"You say this because of the new guardians?" Nerissa asked, looking at him. When he nodded, she continued. "Well then, we'll just have to make them suffer first."

"Oh? How do you suggest we do that?" Ash asked dryly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kasper spoke for the first time since Nerissa had broken free. "We get more numbers."

"Yeah. That way we'd stand a better chance fighting them." Valkyrie agreed, nodding.

"You're thinking too small." Kasper said an evil glint in his eyes. "We don't just boost our numbers. We boost our numbers with someone who knows stuff about them."

Nerissa smiled. "And someone who is very important to them."

_Earth_

Austin sighed, pacing along the gym doors. Barely anyone was at the school, and his footsteps echoed down the hallway. He glared down at his phone, pressing the 'call' button again. After a few minutes, he sighed in frustration.

At that moment, a fellow student walked by. "Hey, Dalton." Austin said suddenly, looking up.

"Yeah?" Dalton asked, looking at Austin. They knew each other just barely. Dalton knew that him and his sister were twins, orphans, and in a band. Austin knew that Dalton liked martial arts and he had helped tutor him once. In fact, Dalton was at the school at that moment for a tutoring session.

"Have you seen my sister? We have a band practice today, and she's not here." Austin sighed. He had hoped that maybe Dalton would have seen her, but he had a feeling he knew what the answer was already.

Dalton shook his head. "Sorry." With that, he left.

Austin sighed again and walked into the gym. "I'm sorry guys, she isn't coming."

"So, no practice?" The drummer, Rachel, asked.

"We can. I don't know if it'll help though."

* * *

><p><em><span>Kandrakar<span>_

"What in the world, err… worlds, is a Nerissa?" Brianna asked, looking around. She asked that in a certain way, trying to get a laugh and break the tension in the room. It didn't work. Something big had happened, and she had learned enough already that when something big happens and you're a guardian-it's probably not good.

"Are Halinor and Yan Lin here?" Will asked, making it seem as if she were ignoring Brianna. When the Oracle nodded, she turned to the guardians. "Hannah and I will gather the rest of W.I.T.C.H. Irma will go find Hali and Yan Lin. While we're gone, Madeline should get healed. Then, we'll explain, okay?"

Hannah and Autumn nodded, fine with the plan. Too bad the same couldn't have been said for the rest of the guardians. "I want an explanation now!" Payden practically yelled, narrowing her eyes.

"I don't need to be healed." Madeline argued, but not quite as loud as Payden.

"I'm with Payden…" Brianna said. This made the two look at each other in shock. "That's two times in one day. We've got to stop this."

"I agree." Payden said, smirking. Then her words sunk in and she groaned. "Not again!"

"I guess you're fine with it then." Hannah shrugged and opened a fold to Earth.

"Oh, hell no!" Payden said, going back to glaring at Will and now Hannah.

"We'll be able to explain once we're together, okay?" Will sighed. Payden and Brianna pondered this for a moment, then nodded slowly. "As for you," She said to Madeline, "What if they heal a little, not too much. We'll need our guardians at full strength, and you aren't there."

"Fine," Madeline grumbled.

"Well then, we're off!" Hannah said, jumping through the fold.

* * *

><p><em><span>Earth<span>_

Cassidy laughed, smiling at Kadma. Kadma simply shook her head at her eccentric friend. They walked down the streets of Paris, but Kadma was elsewhere. She hated what Nerissa did, but the way Cassidy was… It was only that way because of Nerissa's actions. So, how could she hate something when there was a good outcome?

"You know, you might get hit by a car." Cassidy joked, noticing her friend spacing out. Kadma didn't notice. "Huh, that guy looks cute." She said a tad loud, trying to snap her friend out of it. "Yeah, I might give up lesbianism to be with him." Nothing. "Of course, with you around, that's likely to never happen." Cassidy was enjoying this far too much, and still Kadma hadn't snapped out of it. "Kadma, I'm more on Earth than you and that's just sad. Partly because I'm me and partly because I used to be dead."

Kadma shook her head. "Sorry…"

"Eh, you just missed out on some of my awesomeness." Cassidy shrugged. Neither of them said another word until they were in their hotel room, which only took a few minutes. "So what were you thinking about?"

Kadma tried to avoid what she was mainly focusing on, and instead decided to pull up a side topic. "You… You and Nerissa weren't alone that day were you? On the mountain."

Cassidy paused, looking at her friend. She was confused, partly because she didn't know what had brought this on. "Kind of." Cassidy answered. She had decided that her friend deserved the whole truth. "Valerie was on the mountain. She tried to follow us, but we lost her. I thought that we were trying to have a romantic getaway…" Suddenly, Cassidy was angry. She glared at the floor. "I can't believe I was so stupid! I noticed how Nerissa had changed, but I couldn't admit it. I didn't want it to be true." Tears were forming in her eyes. Kadma pulled her friend into a hug, frowning. "… Obviously I paid for that mistake…"

"We all did…" Kadma muttered. She was now mentally slapping herself for bring this topic up and upsetting her friend.

"Why were you asking?" Cassidy asked suddenly, pulling away. A confused look covered her features as she looked at the past earth guardian. Kadma frowned and didn't answer. "What? What is it?" Now Cassidy was worried. A look of pity was on Kadma's face.

Kadma sighed. "I… It's… I was afraid you'd say that Valerie was up there too…"

"Why?" Cassidy was scared of the answer.

"I… We… Think she saw it. We also think she ran into Nerissa afterwards…" Cassidy gasped, and Kadma nodded. "We lost three of our friends that day to being guardians."

"Valerie… Died?" Cassidy's voice broke. She couldn't believe she hadn't figured it out sooner. Kadma nodded, frowning down at her friend.

* * *

><p><em><span>Kandrakar<span>_

"Cornelia!" Elyon yelled, flying through the air and hugging her best friend. Cornelia laughed, gladly accepting the hug, even if it almost had knocked her over.

"Grandma!" Hay Lin yelled, also flying through the air. She hugged Yan Lin without almost knocking her over though.

"My little Hay Lin." Yan Lin said, smiling as she hugged her granddaughter.

"I've missed you so much, Grandma." Hay Lin said sadly, not pulling away.

"We all have Yan Lin." Taranee added in, watching the reunion.

"I guess I don't matter then." Elyon said sarcastically, smiling. Cornelia and Elyon were done hugging and were now just holding hands like when they were kids.

"Of course you matter, Queenly." Irma joked, ruffling Elyon's hair as she walked past her and to Will.

"Come on guys, let's settle down. We have a few stories to tell." Will said, motioning for her friends to follow her into the room where the new guardians were waiting. Everyone joined the new guardians on the ground, and sat next to their closest friends.

"So what's going on?" Autumn asked, looking at all the people sitting in front of her four friends. She turned to study her friends' reactions, and wasn't shocked by what she found. Madeline, the one sitting closest to her, was smiling. Autumn didn't have to read her mind to see that she was happy to see so many people friends and to be feeling well again. Hannah was sitting on the other side of Madeline. She had a small grin on her face, but was otherwise serious. She really wanted to know what was going on, what her and her friends had to fight next. Autumn smiled at Hannah's protective thoughts towards her friends. Brianna was smiling also. She enjoyed hearing the older guardians' antics and she enjoyed seeing Hannah happy. Sticking out, Payden was sour. She hated the fact that she had to wait this long for an explanation.

"It's nice to see you again, young guardians." Halinor said, smiling at them. She then gestured to Yan Lin, who was wearing the same light blue robe. "This is my old friend, Yan Lin."

"I'm sorry it took so long to meet you." Yan Lin apologized, smiling also.

"As you know, I used to be a guardian." Halinor said. "I was the fire guardian before Taranee. Yan Lin was the air guardian before Hay Lin."

"Cool." Brianna muttered. Only Hannah heard her, and she turned to smile at her girlfriend. Hannah reached over and grabbed Brianna's hand and held it.

Halinor and Yan Lin saw this and glanced at each other for a second. Halinor decided to not say anything and continued on. "Sadly, our time as guardians did not end as nicely as W.I.T.C.H.'s."

"What happened?" Madeline asked, completely curious.

"We had five guardians like you have here. Cassidy, the water guardian, Halinor, the fire guardian, me, the air guardian, Kadma, earth, and Nerissa, quintessence." Yan Lin said.

"C.H.Y.K.N.!" Hay Lin said with a laugh, referring to their initials, like everyone usually did with W.I.T.C.H. The new guardians laughed upon hearing this for the first time, as did some of the rest of the people in the room.

Yan Lin smiled at her granddaughter, and then continued. "As you probably guessed, Nerissa was the Keeper of the Heart. She did a great job and led us for a few years. But the power began to corrupt her. The Oracle saw this, and gave the Heart to Cassidy to hold instead. But Nerissa wouldn't take it. She begged and pleaded for Cassidy to give her the Heart. Cassidy refused. Nerissa let her rage take over and stuck down Cassidy." Yan Lin's voice broke a little right then, but she continued. "She couldn't believe what she had done, and ran away. We caught up to her and imprisoned her on Mount Thanos."

The new guardians were silent, letting that all sink in. After a few minutes, Will spoke up. "After a while, Nerissa escaped. She got a few Hearts from other worlds, one being Elyon here." Elyon nodded slightly in recognition. "She then brought back the old guardians one by one. She used our weakest of points and made us her own personal slaves. She raised Cassidy back from the dead, and eventually reunited the old guardians."

"We fought against her though, and won by making the old guardians snap out of it." Irma said, smiling for their victory. "It's a long story, but the short version is in the end of it all, she had accidentally entrapped herself inside a jewel. The old guardians were still alive though, including Cassidy, and they were now free."

Halinor took over from there. "We let Juilian hold the jewel, for reasons that I shouldn't mention. Then, I came back to Kandrakar as a council member."

"I came back home, happy to be with my family again." Yan Lin said, smiling down at Hay Lin. "Cassidy and Kadma decided to adventure throughout the world, and still are. Sadly, I died. But guardians come here to live after they die."

"That kind of sucks that you died…" Hannah said.

"It had to happen." Yan Lin replied, smiling at the young guardian.

"So, what you're saying is this Nerissa person is free again?" Payden asked. When almost everyone nodded, she continued. "She's going to come after us, isn't she?"

"Probably." Will said with a frown. "She's always been chasing after the Heart of Kandrakar."

"Actually…" Yan Lin said hesitantly. "She may be more interested in revenge."

"Like, she'll come after us?" Cornelia asked, looking around at her friends, the past guardians, with a worried expression.

"Over my dead body." Hannah hissed, looking at her parents protectively. She wasn't about to lose them again.

"Don't worry." Madeline said, looking at her friend and leader worriedly. "We won't let that happen."

"Yeah, what do you think we are? Weaklings?" Autumn joked, making Hannah laugh.

"They are a lot like you guys when you were that age." Elyon remarked to W.I.T.C.H., smiling.

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian<span>_

"So, it's a plan?" Valkyrie asked, looking around at all the faces of the group.

"Yes." Nerissa said, smiling. She couldn't wait to make the guardians pay.

Ash shook his head. He didn't want any part of this, but he was still here. He felt he ought to help Valkyrie, even though he knew it was wrong. Also, of course, he couldn't get the air guardian off of his mind.

"Then let's do it!" Kasper said excitedly. Finally, he had a good fight lined up. He couldn't wait.

* * *

><p><em><span>Earth<span>_

"Need help?" Chris's voice rang out through the air, shocking Matt. Chris's curly hair was long, dangling slightly in front of his blue eyes. He was taller, more muscular, but his muscles were long, not bulky. He was wearing a grin on his face, very similar to his sister. "Knock, knock."

"What do you want?" Matt asked, returning to his work. He was trying to fix a car's engine. Matt had grown, his face had smoothed out. Other than that, he looked the same. One major difference was now his face was darkened. He wasn't happy much anymore, and he blamed that on his ex-girlfriend.

Chris laughed as Matt's dormouse ran up his arm. "Hey, Nape." Chris said, petting the dormouse. "Come on, Matt. Why can't you be as happy to see me as Nape?" The mouse's actual name was Napoleon, but Chris liked to call him Nape. See, the two animals of the group that was the Regents of Earth died in battle. As a tribute to them, they got a new dormouse and named it after the cat, Napoleon.

"Because I know what it means that you're here." Matt replied, sighing as he turned around. He put his tools down on his workbench, then looked up at Chris. "So, what do we need to do?"

"Nothing actually." Chris answered, looking up from petting Nape. Chris had always been happy as a Regent, and he was happy that they chose him to be-even though Irma had fought against it. "Lillian just wanted me to let you know that there are new guardians. So now you can join up in the fight."

"Sure, why not? Risk my life for no reason." Matt said bitterly.

"Come on, you'll have fun!" Chris joked. Matt fought the urge to glare at Chris. He had to remind himself that it wasn't Chris he was mad at, it was Chris's piece of crap sister. Chris groaned, picking up on Matt's thoughts. "That was forever ago! Let it go, they have!"

"Of course you'd defend them." Matt said dryly.

"Yeah, and so would have you. So did you. I don't see what the problem is now!" Chris's joking manner was lost now, anger taking it's spot. "Whatever. I'm leaving now. Fight or don't fight, I could care less. But I'm taking Nape with me." With that, Chris was gone.

Matt threw the closest thing to him-a wooden chair-and incinerated it with his lasers coming out of his eyes. "Why won't they leave me alone?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>Heyyy

So, I'm sorry. I'm not completely positive on how to spell C.H.Y.K.N.'s names. If I messed up spellings, please tell me so I don't do it again. Also, I loved writing for them. I just hope I don't get the characterization up. People don't like when others do that...

Yes, I have added Chris and Matt into the story. And a new pet! I just figured Napoleon and Mr. Huggles would be dead by now... Sadly, Matt's all jerk now. I've made up my own way for Chris. I don't know how he'd have ended up, so I kinda made him like his sister, Irma.

Sorry if you don't like me explaining a few things that the show already has. Here's the thing; my friends, family, and even some strangers are from other sites and are now reading this. That means they don't know the show therefore I have to describe a few stuff.

About the whole review and upload thing. I had six reviews when I said that. So to reach the five more review thing, I literally need five more reviews. Not five reviews. Some people got confused about that. Sorry.

To my oh so amazing family members-yes. Chris is a guy and Will is a girl. I do not own these characters. Sorry! xD

Also, I'm a tad stuck for Chapter Thirteen so I'm not sure when it'll be up.

I hoped you enjoyed it!

**-Phantom**


	13. Chapter 13

**The New Guardians**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Emotions**

_Autumn's point of view_

"Talk." My voice filled the quiet forest air. I looked down at my friend, the air guardian. I could tell that my feelings weren't showing in my eyes, which was_ wonderful_. I'd just _hate _for her to see the betrayal in my eyes, the sadness in my face. Madeline didn't look up at me, instead she looked at the ground. She sat, her back against the tree, and refused to talk. I didn't want to put up with this, but I cared too much about her to not.

"Talk, or I'll figure out my own way." I said, sadly.

"Fine." She sighed, finally looking up to me. "I don't know how, but I'm falling for him."

I growled under by breath, and I knew fire flicked in my eyes, considering how I felt my temperature rising and I saw Madeline flinch. "I figured that out on my own." My voice was deeper, my anger seeping through it. "He's fucking with your mind Madeline! Trust me, I would know all about that!" Again, she winced. But being who she was, she didn't fight back. We had known each other long enough. "He doesn't love you!"

That must've hit a nerve, because she jumped up. I took a step back, staring at her shocked. "It wouldn't matter if he did anyways!" She yelled at me. "You're treating me as if I'm a traitor! Guess what Autumn, I can't control my feelings! _You_ should know that!" Yeah, I definitely hit a nerve. "Not because you can read my mind, but because you're my _best friend!_" With that, she started running.

"Maddie, wait!" I called after her. She ignored me, jumping into the air and changing to her bird form. "Agh!" I yelled, my fists clenching with fire around them. "Damn you, Ash. Damn you to hell."

* * *

><p><em>Brianna's point of view<em>

I liked how open I could be in this house. No one cared, no one judged. That's not saying my parents were horrible. I just didn't know where I stood with them. Would they be okay with it, would they hate it? Would they take my Hannah away from me? The questions scared me, so I looked down at Hannah, who looked very deep in thought. We were alone, laying on a couch in her parents' living room. I had an arm wrapped around her and she was cuddled up to my side. I found myself actually curious now, not trying to distract myself from my own thoughts now. "You look like you're very deep in thought, should I be worried?" I asked, jokingly with some seriousness in my voice. I found it better to joke around. Why not have some fun and light moments in your life? You only live it once.

She did this cute thing where she doesn't laugh verbally, but shakes with her laughter. I felt my smile grow, and I saw hers do the same. "I'm having conflicting emotions at the moment." Her voice was light, but I could tell she was actually thinking about something at it was almost bothering her.

"Uh-oh, I'm in trouble." I joked again, making her smile more; which in turn made my smile grow even more. "What about?"

"Your height." She answered, finally matching my gaze. I knew I must have looked confused, because she began to explain. "I'm torn between loving it, and hating it. I love it when you hold me like this, but I hate it because I wish _I _could hold you like you hold me. I feel so safe, so loved…. And I can't make you feel the same." While she spoke, she looked down, biting her lip because she was upset.

"Darling…" I sighed, getting her to look up at me. "I already feel safe." I said, my voice now serious, but still soft. "I know that you love me." While I spoke, I moved closer to her, and softly kissed her.

"You better." She joked, smiling once more. She barely moved away and starting glaring at the radio, making me even more confused. After a few seconds, the radio started and I gasped.

"Whoa!" I said, glancing back at her. "That was amazing! Can you change the channels too?"

Worry showed on her face now. "I don't want to break it… I only just started to learn how to turn stuff on and off. I've been practicing."

"I can tell!" Man, I was jealous. It's not like I'd even ever need to manipulate someone's thoughts, and I turned into a freaking ferret weasel thing. Meanwhile, my girlfriend got all these cool powers. Totally unfair. Luckily, I loved her.

"Hmmm…. Do I get any prize for my work?" She asked, a sneaky smile playing across her lips.

"Oh of course not." I joked, kissing her again. After a few minutes, she started to purr…Like, actually purr. I pulled away slightly, trying to hold my laughter in. "You purr?!"

She blushed. "I…I enjoyed that…"

"I can tell!" I said, laughing still. That was funny. Plus, she looked freaking adorable when she was embarrassed. This went on for a few minutes. The song on the radio changed and she started humming.

_Seems like every day you cross my mind even after such a long time  
>I'm still thinking about the way you smile,<br>It tears me apart to know that it won't ever be the same again  
>No, it won't ever be the same again.<em>

_ Now I'm sorry; That I left you  
>I can't go back<br>I can't change anything  
>I'm sorry that I said so long,<br>I never meant to hurt you.  
>Sorry I waited so long…. That I waited so long….<em>

"Huh, this is kind of fitting." She said, after humming along. My eyes widened in worry and I became scared, she was going to leave me?

_Not really sure what I'm doing back here  
>Or why I stayed away for all those years.<br>I guess I had to find myself._

_ I'm the only one to blame,  
>No one else can ever make it all go away.<br>Or make up…  
>Make up for all my mistakes.<em>

Thankfully, she looked back at me. Seeing my expression she gasped. "No! I didn't mean it like that… I meant…" Then she began to sing along to the song, and I found myself almost ignoring the words, just wanting to hear her voice. No wonder she was the lead singer in the band.

"_Seems like every day  
>You cross my mind<br>Even after such a long long time_

_ I'm still thinking about the way you smile…."_

She kissed me, hard, as if she were pouring all her feelings into the kiss; as if to prove she loved me. Then she pulled away to sing what sounded like the final repeat of the chorus.

_"Sorry I waited so long,  
>I never meant to hurt you.<br>Sorry I waited so long.  
>Sorry I waited so long...<br>That I waited so long..."_

"…To tell you how I felt about you." She finished while the song faded out. "I hurt you when I was trying to hide it, and I hate myself for that. I also hate that waiting probably hurt you even more. That's what I meant…. I love you, Brianna."

I don't think I'd ever tire of hearing her say that. "I love you too. Don't hate yourself… You've made up for it." She smiled, and I leaned in to kiss her again. God, kissing her felt like I was floating through heaven. I wanted this to never end.

Of course, as soon as I thought that, someone walked in and cleared their throat. I pulled back and groaned, glancing up at the intruder, Hannah doing the same. It was Autumn, and she looked very upset, causing me to frown. Hannah gasped, "Oh!" She then turned to me and gave me a lingering kiss. "I'll be back, I swear. She needs my help with something."

Confusion was most likely evident on my face; what had Autumn shown her that made her have this reaction? "I'll be waiting." I said sadly, watching her leave. Turns out, being a guardian had a few problems too.

* * *

><p><em>Hannah's point of view<em>

I knew before I kissed her goodbye that I would feel bad. When would we have some time to ourselves? Sometime where no one could intrude; where no one could end it. Suddenly, I regretted thinking that. I was the Leader of the Guardians. I accepted this responsibility and I'd have to deal with it. I wouldn't let my friends or anyone else down.

Being a guardian changed my life so much. I hated lying to my family-even if they weren't my actual family just a group in a foster home. I cared about them, and I knew the feeling was returned; so lying felt like betraying them. Also, it wasn't as if none of them had noticed my changing. I could see the worried looks, could hear their hushed conversations.

Still, even though all of this, I did not mind my new responsibility as a guardian. I wasn't making mistake and I was glad that I found my way to make a difference in the world.

I thought all of this as I followed Autumn out through my moms' house. She stopped in the backyard and turned to look at me. I met her sad gaze and knew she could use some cheering up. With that thought; I started running. Once I hit the tree line, I jumped-instantly shifting to my black panther form.

I never knew how much I would enjoy running like this. It was as if I were flying. I could hear so much, see so much, _feel_ so much. I felt invincible. Finally I heard Autumn shift; what was taking her so long? I slowed down, knowing I was coming up to a clearing. I sat in wait for my friend, and enjoyed the feeling of my tail wagging slowly in the air.

After a minute, Autumn joined me in the clearing. I could still see the sadness in her eyes, and I accidentally let out a whine. Oops. Wait a second… Why did she have her clothes in her mouth? That was odd…

I shifted, standing up in the middle of it. _'Whoa. Why aren't you naked? I-I mean, how did you shift with your clothes?_' I chuckled. Sometimes, Autumn wasn't the best at framing a question.

"I figured out you can shift with your clothes. It was only the first time that they got torn. Whatever you're wearing when you first shift shows back up when you shift back to human." I said, happy. I knew something before Autumn! She nodded, and I laughed again. "Go change, goof."

Once she was back, a fully dressed human, I laughed once again. "Yeah, I know." Autumn said, looking down at her clothes. They had teeth marks in them, and little pieces of wolf drool. "Man am I glad you figured out that we can shift with clothes."

"Yeah you should be." I replied. After my laughing died down, there was a minute of serious silence, which I immediately hated. She just gazed at me sadly, not saying anything. Due to what she showed me while I was laying on the couch, I knew what had happened. I knew what Autumn thought about it. "What's so bad about it?"

"…What?!" Autumn almost exploded. If she weren't so sad, she'd probably be pissed.

"It's not like she's committing treason. She accidentally fell for some guy. She _barely _ knows him; you think she'd choose him over us? Her friends?" I felt like I was ranting, but I continued anyways. "You're practically committing treason thinking Madeline, our friend who cares so much about us, would betray us like that."

I let that stew for a few minutes. I stared my friend down as she looked down at the ground. I knew she was understanding and I was glad my words meant that much. Finally she looked up at me and slowly nodded. "You're right… I feel bad now." Autumn frowned. "Man, I over reacted…"

"Just go apologize." I said, shrugging. "You know her, she'll forgive you."

Autumn's mouth slightly turned to form a smile. "That's true."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Author''s note:<span>**

Worst chapter ;_; It's too small, the ending sucks, and it took me forever to post. I wanted to see if I could come up with a better way to end it, but I couldn't. I'm sorry guys!

Any questions, please tell me.

(I don't own W.I.T.C.H. or the song, which is Sorry, by Art of Dying. I suggest you listen to it)

Oh! Two more things. First off, I'm going to try to work music into this. Hopefully, it'll go great. (And yes, I changed some of the lyrics.) Plus, I'm sorry I waited so long ;D

Second, which is better-first point of view, or third? I enjoyed writing in first for this chapter, let me get some hidden emotions in. And it was a new challenge. Let me know! Your opinion matters!

**~Phantom**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author'****s**** note:** I don't own W.I.T.C.H. I only own my own characters, the plot line, and the band-Head In The Clouds.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

**Dreams or Nightmares?**

Madeline's POV

"…Maddie, are you even listening to me?" Autumn asked, making my head snap up from what I was sketching.

"Oh… Uh… Sorry." I mumbled, and then asked louder, "What?"

Autumn laughed. "Never mind, Maddie-cakes." She said, getting up. "Have fun."

She ran off as I was asking," What-?"

"Can I call you Maddie-cakes?" His voice resonated in my ear, cutting me off as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I shivered slightly and turned to him.

Normally, I would reply with a joke or a sarcastic remark. But at the moment I was all too aware of his heavy breath in my ear, his cool embrace. Because of this, I stammered, "N-no-I'd… I mean I'd rather you-"

"Relax." He said with a smile, as if to calm me down. "That's what your friends call you, right?" He leaned in closer, causing my face to heat up. "We are friends, aren't we?"

"I… I suppose…" I stammered. Why was I so nervous?!

"That's a nice picture of me. Did you draw that for me?" He asked, looking down at my drawing.

"I-I don't know." When had I started drawing him?

He rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. "You really need to relax." Suddenly, he leaned in. Oh goodness, he was going to kiss me. Our lips were abo_ut to touch, and yet, I wasn't moving away-_

I sat up, gasping for breath. _What the crap just happened? _I asked myself, shaking my head. I groaned, thinking through the dream. _At least I woke up when I did… _Why was I dreaming about him kissing me?! I'm going crazy, yeah. That's it.

Running my hands through my hair, I looked down. Great, I hadn't even fallen asleep at my bed. Nope, I fell asleep at my desk, drawing. I ran my hands through my hair again and looked at the drawing. Realizing what it was, I groaned. It was where _he _bit me-and then kissed me. Kissed me-without even asking, seeing if it was ok. Who does that?!

In anger, I turned around. Quickly, I opened my window, and then looked down at what I was wearing. Some shorts and a T-shirt. Okay, that was good. I jumped out the window, and suddenly, I was flying. I would never get sick of this feeling. Man, am I glad Hannah found out that we get to keep our clothes when changing into an , it would've been annoying to have been naked everywhere I flew to.

After flying for about fifteen minutes, I landed on a branch and changed back. It felt good to clear my head. This guy-a complete stranger and my enemy-was causing me too much stress. I need to get away from hi-

"What are you doing here?" A deep, annoyingly familiar voice resonated through the air. The voice shocked me, causing me to jump. I made the perfect description of a girl scream as I fell off my branch. "Careful there," He said, grabbing my hand in his. He grinned-an exact replica of his grin in my dream.

This time, it just made me annoyed. "Let me go."

"Really? You really want me to let you go?" Ash asked, slowly loosening his grip on me, until I choked back another scream and held onto his hand tighter.

"Okay." Thank goodness, my voice sounded normal. "I don't want you to let me go. I want to be on the ground though, not dangling through the air-if that's okay with you, Ash."

He sighed, rolling his eyes. His smile was long gone. "Understandable." He quickly pulled me up as if he were throwing me, let go of my hand, wrapped his arm around my waist and held be bridal style, then jumped and landed on the ground; all in one fluid motion. Then he let me go and took a step back. "This better?"

I held myself back from rolling my eyes too. Now he was being a gentleman. "You know what would be better? You staying away from me. Your mood swings are giving me headaches." I started to walk off, turning my back to him.

"My…My mood swings?" He asked, confused. As if all of his years-however many that was-didn't prepare him for my question.

I groaned, turning around to face him. "Yes your mood swings! One day your biting me; then you kiss me. _Then_ you tease me. Then you try to be a gentleman. _That's_ what I mean by mood swings." With each sentence, my voice grew with anger and I walked closer to him.

"..Ah." Ash said, nodding. "I apologize." He looked up at me, and I found myself staring in his eyes. They were green-how'd I never notice that before? He took a step forward, and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. Instead, he raised his arm, as if to touch me.

That's what snapped me out of it. I flinched back, back slapping his arm away from me. "Don't touch me!" I glared at his now shocked and confused face. "What? You're confused? Why-Cause I don't want you to touch me? As if there were no reason I could _possibly _be mad at you."

"Why are you mad at me?" He asked, making me think he must be really stupid.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe because you _bit _me, without my permission, sucked my blood-again without my permission-then kissed me-without my permission. Maybe that's it!" I yelled. "Seriously, who does that?!"

"I…I'm sorry." He spoke after a few minutes. I guess he was letting me calm down, and it slightly worked. _Slightly. _"I can explain, if you'd let me."

I sighed, then nodded. "I bit you because if I hadn't, it would've been Kasper. He would've made it a lot worse." He hadn't really paused, so I knew he was going to continue, but I cut him off anyways.

"Kasper? Who is that? And why did I just _have_ to be bitten?" I asked, not caring if I interrupted him. This was my body, my life. It was important.

"…I can't answer that." At my confused look, he continued. "Valkyrie is my friend. I don't want to betray her." At this, my eyes narrowed, so he just went on with his story. "I kissed you because… Because I wanted to. Some crazy part of me thought you did to. That part of me won't let me forget that you kissed me back…"

I started stammering, trying to force out an answer, but he waved me off. "Don't." Ash said. "I'm not asking you to explain your emotions. I know I can't. I just… Madeline." Suddenly, he was more serious; if that were possible. "Things are about to change."

I refrained from snorting. "I'm a Guardian. Things have been changing."

"This change isn't good… Look… Just be careful." Quickly, so fast that in the moonlight I almost didn't catch it, he kissed my forehead then disappeared.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>You have every right to hate me. It's been forever since I updated, and this chapter is a little short. Well, a reviewer-Jacqueline-wanted an Ash and Madeline chapter. So I wrote one. It was a challenge, so I didn't force myself to get around to typing it. I'm sorry.

Jacqueline, thanks to you this is uploaded. I enjoyed your reviews and I hope you like this.

Ember, Yeah they are rushing into this. But, after all, isn't that what teenagers do? Rush into a relationship? Plus, they have to worry about their lives and everyone elses. Maybe rushing into this relationship helps them. It's fine that you weren't reviewing (: Thanks for the compliments, and yes. They are battle scenes coming up.

IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, I regret to say it will most likely be in third point of view. I'm sorry.

Please, please, please find me on Facebook at PhantomPride's Works. Please. If I got more than my friends liking it, I'd post info about when I'll upload, how a chapter is going, and I'd give you teasers about what's next. So please, go and like it. I promise I won't look at your facebook profiles. I just want to help you guys connect with me, so go like it.

Until next time,

**Phantom**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I don't own W.I.T.C.H.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 15<br>****Choices**

"Brianna, focus. It's simple..." Irma said, almost frowning at her student, the newest water guardian. "Let it work and fight for you."

Brianna sighed, her shoulders falling. "I'm trying, okay?" She asked rhetorically as she turned to face the older woman.

"Yeah, I can tell. You just gotta be able to get it to work just right. You want to be able to use this in a fight, right?" Irma asked, almost frowning again.

"Nah, I just feel like working my but off on something I'll never use." Brianna said sarcastically.

Irma laughed. "Well then, come on. Right now, you wouldn't be able to get the upper hand at the rate your goi-" Suddenly, some water flicked Irma in the back of her head.

"Is that good?" Brianna asked, smiling proudly at Irma.

Irma chuckled again. "Yes. Yes it is."

"Dang, you're kicking her but already?" A voice asked jokingly.

Irma turned around, confusion flashing on her face. "Where's Hannah?" Asked Brianna

"You expect me to be able to teach her dark?" Will asked, sitting next to her wife.

"Well... No. But I expected you to watch over her." Irma said.

"Nah. She said she has it. Besides, I trust her. She can handle herself." As soon as the words came out of Will's mouth, a crash was heard.

Irma and Will jumped up, running out of the room with Brianna. "That sounded like it came from the main room."

"That's where Hannah is..." Will said, running towards where the noises were.

"What's the deal man?!" They heard Hannah yell as they ran up. They looked up and saw Hannah in midair facing a guy with black wings. Not completely visible to them, the guy also had dreadlocks and a tail. The guy didn't answer; he just flew towards her and hit her, sending her flying through a wall. He followed the falling guardian.

Without a word, Brianna jumped up and flew towards Hannah. "What in the world?" Will asked no one in particular.

"I knew I shouldn't have brought him." A familiar voice sighed from behind them. "Sorry sis." The newcomer said, walking up to the two of them.

"Chris! What're you doing here, squirt?" Irma asked, surprised. Ironically, Chris was now taller than his older sister.

"I wanted to meet the new guardians." He said, his eyes still sparkling with energy even though his voice was dead.

"So that means... That's Matt..." Will spoke finally, looking towards where Hannah had fallen.

"Sadly, yes." Chris said, looking in the same direction Will was. "Should I help her?"

"No." Cornelia's voice came out of nowhere. They turned to face her and saw Taranee following her, nodding. "He won't hurt her and they can use a lesson in teamwork." After a moment of thinking, Chris nodded and they all ran towards where Hannah was.

"Who are you?" Hannah asked, gathering a ball of dark in her hand.

Matt flew up right in front of her and threw a punch. "Talking in a battle won't help you." His voice was flat, as if he had no life left in him. Hannah dogged his attacks and threw the dark at him, causing him to go flying backwards.

"What can we do?" Brianna asked, Payden and Autumn next to her, staring at Matt.

"Payden, Autumn; we're going to go on the offensive. Circle him, attack him on all sides. Try not to destroy this place." Hannah replied, speaking in a rush. "Brianna, go find Maddie. I need you two back her as soon as possible." Brianna nodded, flying off.

"Let's go." Autumn said, grinning.

Matt attacked Payden, and tried his best to not let Autumn get on his other side. Autumn threw a ball if fire at Matt and be dodged it, causing it to almost hit Payden. "Hey there, teammate. Lovely aim." Payden said dryly, falling back as Autumn and Matt when into hand to hand combat. Hannah joined in, but he was still beating them. Finally, Payden also joined in, sending him to the ground. "Avout faith!" Payden said, sticking her hand out, causing vines to cover Matt.

They landed next to Will, Irma, Cornelia, and Chris. "See?" Cornelia's voice had light sarcasm. Then she turned to Payden and the other guardians, seeing as Maddie and Bri had finally showed up. "What was that?! You guys had a good plan, but you didn't follow through. It wasn't until the end that you finally acted as a team!"

"Corny, cool it. They did great." Irma said, smiling proudly at the guardians. Taranee smiled also, nodding in agreement with Irma.

"Why do I feel like I missed something?" Madeline asked around a yawn.

Hay Lin ran around the corner and tripped over Matt. "Whoa. What in the world-?" She stood up and looked around. "Hey Chris! What'd I trip over..? Matt?"

"... You know him?" Payden asked, looking at W.I.T.C.H.

"He's a Regent of the Earth with me and Nape here." Chris answered, petting the dormouse on his shoulder.

As Chris spoke, Matt changed out of his regent form-which consisted of him with an open short sleeves shirt, muscles, dreadlocks and a grey tail. "Can you let me out of here?" Matt asked, his voice still dead. Now he was wearing a plan gray shirt and some jeans.

"Not until you tell us why you attacked Hannah." Payden said, glaring at Matt.

"You know, I'm not traumatized. I can speak for myself." Hannah spoke up-only to be ignored by her friends.

"I was seeing how strong she was. I want to know how long I'm sticking around." Matt replied, acting as if Hannah hadn't spoken. He also had yet to look at Will or Irma.

"Yeah right!" Cornelia said, snorting. "Payden, you can let him out." At this, Payden huffed but told the vines to retreat. "Matt, we aren't idiots. We know you know who Hannah is, and we know why you attacked her."

Matt glared at Cornelia, standing up. "Shut up Cornelia." He muttered.

"You would think we were invisible." Irma said under her breath, grabbing her wife's hand. She could tell Will was upset, even if she hasn't been showing it.

"You just have to do that huh?!" Matt yelled, turning to face Irma and Will. "Right in front of me. I thought you were better than that Will."

"And I thought you were better than to beat up my kid to take out your anger." Irma snapped back.

Matt snorted. "Okay. Whatever." He turned around and started walking towards a door. "Chris, I'm leaving. You coming?"

"…In a second. Wait for me." Chris said, frowning slightly at Matt.

Matt snorted again. "Fine. Just hurry up." With that, he left them and walked into an adjacent room, one with a newly ruined wall.

Chris turned back to the group. "Sis, I'm sorry about him." He said, hugging Irma. He leaned over and hugged Will, whispering in her ear. "Ignore him." Then he turned to face the new guardians. "I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you. Hopefully someday I'll be able to talk to you guys. Now, excuse me. I have to go yell at Mr. Grumpyface." He turned as if he were going to leave, but then changed his mind and met Hannah's gaze. "I hope he didn't hurt you too bad." After this, he followed Matt's trail into the room.

"Finally. I need to get back to-" Matt began as soon as he saw Chris, but he got cut off.

"What the fuck was that?!" Chris yelled at Matt, not caring who heard him. "You could've killed her slapping her around like that!"

"I already said, I was trying to see how weak she is-" Matt answered, glaring at Chris.

"Bullshit!" Chris was still yelling, but this time he kicked part of the ruined wall. Part of him was glad that it wasn't the one between him and the group of past and new guardians. The main part of him kept yelling. "You and I both know that's crap. You have _got _to get over Will! It's been years man! Everyone wants to leave what happened behind them, but _you_ won't let them. And beating up her daughter sure as hell isn't going to help!" With that, Chris opened a portal and left with Nape. Matt sighed, shook his head, and followed.

* * *

><p><em><span>Autumn's P.O.V.<span>_

"What the crap was that about?" I asked, looking at Taranee. She opened her mouth to answer when Brianna started talking.

"First, can we help Hannah? She doesn't look too good." She asked, looking at our friend. Wow, I am really unobservant. Of course she was hurt, she just got punched through a few walls.

Meanwhile, Irma was shaking her daughter trying to get a response. "I-I'm fine… Stop…" Hannah whispered. I wouldn't have been able to hear it if I hadn't been listening in on her thoughts.

"You're making her feel worse…" I told Irma. Suddenly, Hannah started to collapse. Irma caught her, then started yelling at Madeline and I to go get some healers.

Nodding, we flew off. After a few minutes, we found them running towards where the fight had happened. "Guardians!" The main one yelled. We landed in front of them as he continued. "Where is everybody? We came as soon as we heard the crashes, what happened?" Needless to say, these guys were not humans. They were a mixture of species, the main one looking like a fish kind of thing that walked along on two legs and had a tail/fin.

"I'll tell you as soon as I know. "I said, as dryly as the fish guy looked. Should we get him some water?

"We need you to follow us, our friend is hurt." Madeline spoke fast, I'm surprised that they could understand. At that moment, we faded out of our Guardian forms.

"Shit. There's no time. Look, Taranee has been teaching me something. Everybody, hold tight." I spoke making everybody stop. I closed my eyes and almost started praying. I only managed to teletransport once-it'd be a miracle if we didn't land in a wall.

There was a bright green flash and we were in the same room as the others now. I sighed in relief as the medics ran up to Hannah. After a few minutes, a medic that oddly looked like dried sand had crusted all over him looked up at us. "She's about to come around."

Hannah opened her eyes, and the medics started to leave except the main one, Mr. Fish-Guy. Hannah started to sit up, but the medic steadied her. "Careful. You got hurt pretty badly."

_When did I lay down? Wow I must be pretty bad… _I heard her think. She nodded thanks to the medic and looked at us. "What happened?"

"Do you remember the story of how Irma and I got together? That was the guy I was talking about." Will replied, frowning. I noticed Irma squeeze Will's hand.

"That guy was your ex?" I asked before realizing my mistake. I was so busy checking up on Hannah that I forgot to pull out of her mind when she woke up. I had heard the story and knew that she had broken that guy's heart. In return, he must've thought it was okay to break Hannah's…Well, everything. I looked down at the ground. "Sorry. I forget sometimes that it's rude to invade people's thoughts…." I muttered.

Will looked shocked, but continued on. She might be used to it, seeing how long they were guardians. "Yeah. That was my ex-boyfriend from high school. His name is Matt."

_He thinks that Will dumped him for Irma. _Hannah sent to the group, who reacted well. They showed no signs of hearing anything.

"And he's a good guy?" Brianna asked, making me chuckle.

"Well, he was a good guy." Cornelia snorted.

"Somehow, I don't think she means his character." Taranee said. "He is on the 'good' side, but he hasn't done much the past few years. He doesn't like working for us. The Regents of Earth are meant to protect the Heart of Earth-Cornelia's sister. But they occasionally join us when they feel it's needed. We've always appreciated their help, but it was becoming more of a bother to deal with Matt."

"It's a wonder Lillian didn't make him retire. We'd be fine with just two Regents." Irma grumbled. Will elbowed her.

The medic spoke up. I had almost forgotten he was there… "Hannah," His mouth formed the word awkwardly, "You should be fine to carry out like normal, but you'll experience a little pain in your head. You should heal just fine, but take it easy."

"So I'll be fine to do normal stuff?" Hannah asked, looking at him. Huh… She looked at him as if there was nothing different about him. Maybe I was the only one intrigued at his appearance. Wait… No, Madeline was studying him too. She wanted to draw him.

"Yes. But it'd be best if you didn't strain yourself, as you would by fighting." The medic said. It looked like he wanted to go on, but Hannah exploded.

"I can't fight?!"

"I didn't say that. I said it'd be best if you didn't. You would heal faster." He replied. Damn, he was calm. I need his chill pills.

After talking for a little while longer, it was decided that Hannah ought to stay at the foster home. Everyone started hugging goodbye, but I was distracted. Sometimes, this mindreading thing felt like sensory overload.

* * *

><p><em><span>Meridian. Third P.O.V.<span>_

"We should begin." Nerissa said. Ash sighed silently. To him, Nerissa was always impatient.

"I'll go to earth and get him." Kasper sounded excited, and Valkyrie rolled her eyes. Ash snorted. "What?" He asked, turning to Ash.

"To be honest, none of you look 'Earth material'." Ash answered. It was true. Both Valkyrie, and Nerissa had too long hair, even though they managed to keep it looking natural. Kasper was too pale, his eyes were bloodshot and red, and he always spoke showing his fangs. There was no way any of them would fit in.

"Then you go." Nerissa snapped.

"I was planning on it." Ash fought the urge to glare. He never liked Nerissa. And to think, he was choosing this over the guardians-

Whoa. Where did that thought come from? He never had a real choice in this matter… He just stuck with them because they were his kind…. A choice? Who would he choose…?

* * *

><p><span><em>Next Day. Sheffield Institute, Madeline's P.O.V.<em>

Unlike most teenagers my age, I don't mind staying at school. It isn't my favorite place to be, but I don't hate being in the building like so many of my classmates. Hannah had asked me to stay for an unknown reason, so I did.

Even though I stayed, I was bored out of my mind. For some reason, I'm unbelievably restless. I've been walking down the halls, and I still felt like I needed to do more.

Without looking up at where I was going, I turned a corner. Suddenly, I was knocked to the floor. It felt like I hit a brick wall. Looking up, I found that I was wrong. Not a brick wall. "Just a stinkin' vampire." I muttered.

"What?" Ash asked looking down on me. Crap, I forgot he could hear me.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" I asked, trying not to yell for help. I started to ignore his hand-stretched out in an offer to help me up-but he lent forward and picked me up anyways. "First off, my friends are going to see you-"

"I'm not scared of your fellow Guardians." He said calmly, as if this were a casual conversation.

"You should be." I grumbled, and then continued. "Second, what the hell are you here for?! Nothing good, I bet!"

"It doesn't matter. I wasn't trying to run into you." He still spoke calmly, looking into my eyes. "I'm not going to do anything wrong. Just act like I was never here." He… He's not going to do anything wrong… Yeah. Why should I tell anyone why he was here?

Ash looked away and started to walk down the hall. I suddenly came to my senses, as if I had been drenched in ice water. "Hey!" I yelled, momentarily forgetting we were in my school.

Thanks to my advanced hearing that came with me being the air guardian, I heard him mutter, "Shit," as he turned to face me. "Look, I'm not here to hurt anyone."

"Really?!" I didn't believe him. I was livid. I couldn't believe he just did that to me.

"Yes, really. I'm about to leave-" He began, but I cut him off.

"You hurt me." I was surprised at the amount of true pain in my voice. I was accidentally falling for this guy, I wanted to trust him and he so easily betrayed me. I turned and started to run down the hallway, far away from him.

"Wait!" He loosely grabbed my wrist and turned me around.

"What?" I spat out, refusing to cry in front of him.

"I'm sorry…" He sounded genuinely apologetic, which made me confused. "I just… They need me. I don't want to betray a friend. But… I care about you…"

"You can't have both, Ash." I spoke up, sounding a lot stronger than I felt. "You have to choose. Me or them." I swallowed my nervousness. "And you should choose soon before this all boils over." I pulled my arm away from him and started running away again, but not as desperately. At that moment, an announcement came over the intercom to go to the gym for an assembly. So that's what Hannah wanted me here for…

"Hey Madeline!" Dalton said, cheerfully passing me. He was just happy to get out of class. I smiled back at him and we started talking.

Later, I was going to look back and realize that Ash was watching. At the moment, I was too sad to notice that Ash was taking an interest in Dalton. If only I had realized…

After a minute or two, we reached the gym and separated. I quickly ran to where my friends were sitting, close to a faraway door.

"Huh, I would've thought you'd be home by now." Payden said, smiling at me.

"Hannah asked her to stay," Autumn spoke before I could.

"Nosy," I joked with her, right as Brianna showed up.

"Where's Hannah?" Brianna asked, looking around for her.

"She's probably backstage-" I said, right as I noticed her peeking out of the curtain on the stage,"-See?"

Brianna waved, causing Hannah to smile before she disappeared behind the curtain. "What's this about?" Brianna asked, turning back to us and sitting down besides Payden.

Payden shrugged. "It's probably about alcohol and how we should stay away from it." Seeing Bri's confused look, she explained farther, "Tyler, the bassist in the band, he lives with Hannah and Austin. His dad was a drunk and beat him for it. When he was caught, Tyler got sent to the group home. So the band performs for the school's anti-alcohol assembly. It's also kind of a preview to show the band off."

Brianna opened her mouth to respond, but got cut off as the curtains opened and Austin began to sing. "Baby, put down the drink…"

I let my mind wander, enjoying the music. My gaze drifted to the other side of the gym. Was that…? No… Ash was in here, talking to Dalton… "Guys!" I whispered harshly.

"What-?" Payden snapped, facing me. I pointed to Ash and Dalton, now leaving the gym.

Autumn's eyes started showing flames, and she cursed. "I can't believe he's here."

'_Go get him!' _Hannah's voice ran through our minds. We all looked up at her, and she was staring at us, trying to not mess up at the same time. She quickly looked down at her guitar and then back up at us.

I nodded, then got up. "Come on!" I whispered, leaving quietly. I looked around as the others joined me. Ash was nowhere to be seen. "Damn it!"

"Listen for where he is," Brianna suggested, looking around.

I nodded and closed my eyes, concentrating. Footsteps… towards the right down a hall. I ran, the others following me. We turned the corner, right as Ash opened a portal and dragged Dalton through it. "No!" I cried out. It was my fault…

"It wasn't your fault, Maddie." Brianna said, grabbing my arm. "We wouldn't have known if it wasn't for you…"

"Where is he?" Hannah asked, running up.

"He got away." Autumn growled, glaring at where he was.

* * *

><p><span><em>Later that day, in Hannah's room<em>

_Third Person Point Of View_

Hannah sat on her bed humming, trying to write a new song. She bounced a pencil on her notepad as she stared off into space.

_Tap, tap._

Hannah glanced, confused, at her window and gasped. There was a white ferret sitting at the window, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Bri!" Hannah sighed, opening the window and picking up her friend. "What are you doing here?! Are you crazy?"

Brianna just ran up Hannah's arm and curled around her neck. Hannah sighed again, right as the door opened. Both of them looked up as Austin walked into the room, carrying a book.

"I thought I heard you talking to someone." Austin said, closing the door, then facing his sister. "You have a ferret around your neck."

"Holy crap, how did that get there?!" Hannah fake gasped, looking down at Brianna.

"You aren't fooling me." Austin shook his head, smiling as he set his book down and walked forward to pet the ferret. "You could get into a lot of trouble."

"Not unless you tell." Hannah replied, grinning.

Austin shook his head again. "You're a dork. Anyways, I just wanted to see who you were talking to, but I guess you're just crazy." He walked back to the door. "Bye 'Lil sis."

"Hey, you're only a few minutes older!" Hannah said as Austin closed the door.

Brianna shook her head, then jumped off Hannah and transformed back into a fully clothed human in mid-air. "Hey, you are crazy. I just adore that about you, though." Brianna said, kissing Hannah quickly. "Come on, we should go talk to your parents about what happened earlier."

Hannah sighed. "We just can't get a break from this, can we?" She held up the heart and whispered, "Guardians, unite!"

Brianna stretched and said, "Ah, much better."

Hannah grinned, looking at her girlfriend. "I'm offended."

"You know I didn't mean it that way!" Brianna laughed, hugging Hannah.

"Prove it." Hannah replied, pressing their foreheads together.

Brianna leaned in to kiss Hannah, right as the door opened.

"Hey, I forgot my book…"

* * *

><p><strong><span>Author's note:<span>** Don't hate me! It took me way too long to write this, I know. A lot of stuff happened in my life and I had to deal with it. Everything is getting better, so I'm going to be writing a lot more. I'll try my best to keep my page uploaded, but like my facebook page for more updates. Just search PhantomPride's Works, and the picture will be the cover for this story.  
><span>

I'm sorry for this being so late. Any questions, I will answer them without spoilers. I hope you enjoyed reading.

Please leave a review.

**Phantom**


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